Yeweewe
by D71298-Z
Summary: Iiiii
1. chapter 1

" _The Force is indiscriminate when it comes to dealing out punishment. It shows no favoritism, no restraint. If you have committed a grave sin, then you will be punished according to that sin. Many would say that it is heartless in the way it deals out punishment; however I see it as firm but fair. It sees in black and white; commit evil and you will be made to suffer for your transgressions, live a life of goodness and you will be properly rewarded. It will always be that way, for as long as beings are able to define good and evil. That being said however, there are times when even the Force must adjust the punishment to fit the circumstances." –_ Darth Vader

Darth Vader, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, Dark Lord of the Sith, was dead.

Anakin Skywalker, the Hero with No Fear, legendary Jedi Knight, husband of Padme Amidala, and father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, was alive again. It felt good to be himself again.

That was the thought that ran through his mind as he and his former dark master Sidious plummeted down the shaft that housed the elevator to the throne room and eventually led to the reactor. Sidious was screaming bloody murder, but Vader – Anakin – wore a smile under his black mask. After twenty years of misery and slavery he was finally free, all thanks to his son Luke. He closed his eyes in silent regret at the thought of his son. He wished he could go back and start fresh with his son, that he could actually be a father to the boy. Then again, there were a lot of things he wished he could start fresh on.

As he fell, the faces of all those he had held dear drifted into his vision. His mother, Qui Gon, Obi Wan, Ahsoka, Padme… He would be seeing them again soon, he knew it, and he took comfort in that knowledge as the heat of the reactor began to engulf him.

As his body was atomized by the forces of the Death Star's reactor, Anakin Skywalker was finally at peace.

* * *

Anakin opened his eyes as he lay in the middle of an endless white expanse. Had he moved on to the Living Force? It seemed so, as this definitely wasn't the Death Star and he was no longer in his life support suit but in his old Jedi robes. Aside from the fact that it had none of the architecture and color of the space station's halls, this place felt less… heavy than the Death Star. There wasn't any darkness here, only life and warmth. But surely this wasn't all there was to it was there? Where were all those who had died before, where were the features of paradise that were said by the Jedi to exist here?

A door appeared before him, causing him to take a step back in surprise. It was rather plain, simply a gray metal door with no markings or visible means of opening it save for a handle. Was he supposed to go through this door to get to the Living Force? Was this empty space simply a transitional area perhaps? A place where one fully crossed over to the other side? He'd never heard of such a thing, but what did it matter? He would be leaving here soon enough. The Jedi reached out to the door intending to grasp the handle, and the fingertips of his right hand brushed against it.

As soon as his hand touched the handle however, something strange happened. The door wouldn't move no matter how hard he pushed, and he moved to step back from the door to contemplate on why this was. When he tried to though his hand would not let go of the handle as if it had been glued on. He pulled with all of his might yet it did nothing. Somewhat disturbed by this, Anakin willed himself to calm down and think clearly. However, soon the experience moved from disturbing to downright terrifying.

An inky black liquid sprouted from the door handle and latched onto his hand, causing his eyes to widen in horror as he yelped in panic. He grabbed his right arm with his free hand to try and pull himself free, but all that succeeded in doing was getting the substance on his left arm as well. "What is this?!" he shouted, his voice tinged with uncharacteristic fear. "What's going on?!"

He finally managed to pull himself free from the door, trying frantically to get whatever this substance was off of him. It was to no avail as the liquid had by now reached his elbows and was advancing rapidly up the rest of his arms. When he looked down at his arms his terror increased a hundred fold as he saw their new form. His forearms were garbed in the same fabric of the suit he had worn as Darth Vader, and as the substance continued to move up his arms he could see that it was leaving whatever parts of his body it touched covered in a piece of the life support suit. No, this couldn't be happening! He had turned away from this! He had chosen the Light Side! He wouldn't go back to that miserable state of being, not again!

"Not again!" he shouted as he continued to try and rid himself of the horrifying substance. "I won't go through it again!"

As if in response to his shouts a hole opened up underneath Anakin, and he screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell into a black abyss. The hole closed, leaving him smothered in darkness as his fall was broken by a virtual lake of the inky substance. He screamed out in terror as he felt the liquid smothering his entire body, thrashing about wildly as he desperately tried to escape. It was to no avail however, and soon the last bit of his body that the liquid had not reached, his left eye, was swallowed by a substance as black as the void of space itself.

* * *

After an indeterminable amount of time Anakin awoke, and he darted up as he remembered what had happened. A door, a black substance consuming him, darkness… He put his hand to his face as he sagged in relief, glad that it had only been a dream. As soon as his hand touched his face however he jumped in shock. His face felt… _wrong_. It felt angular and mechanical, and it was a hauntingly familiar feeling. As he realized that not all was well he noticed a mirror that he was sure hadn't been there before. Dreading what he would see, the Chosen One turned to face the mirror, and when he saw his reflection he felt his world shatter. For in front of him stood not the reflection of Anakin Skywalker, but of Darth Vader.

At once it all came crashing down. His vision was shaded with the red of his suit's visual scanners, he felt as if the weight of the outfit would make him collapse, and the sound of that accursed breath filled his ears. He sank to his knees as his face was buried in his hands, a sob retching itself out of his throat. The vocalizer of his suit caused the sound to be distorted into a mechanical sounding growl.

"Why," he half asked, half sobbed. "Must I be made to suffer more? Was twenty years not enough?"

" **No, it was not enough."**

Anakin sprang to his feet at the unexpected response, his masked head darting around as his hand instinctually drifted to his lightsaber. "Who's there?" he demanded, his voice echoing. "Show yourself!"

A collection of a million voices answered in unison. **"Very well."**

A shape began to take form in front of the ex Sith Lord, and he gripped his lightsaber tightly yet at the same time leaving it deactivated. Eventually the shape resolved into a robed figure with a ghostly blue glow. Its face was hidden by the cowl of its hood; in fact not a single part of the entity's body was visible from under the robe except for the lower face which resembled a human's. The mouth of the face was contorted in a sharp frown.

"What are you?" Anakin demanded, raising his still inactive lightsaber in warning. "Answer honestly or I will destroy you."

The being's frown only deepened, and it once again spoke in its voice(s?). **"You presume to have such strength? Before us you are nothing. We are eternal, boundless, unequaled in reach and power. We are your judge and punisher. We are the limitless Force itself."**

Anakin recoiled as if he had been struck. What this being said made no sense! The Force was not a single entity! "How is that possible?" he asked. "You cannot be the Force incarnate! Such a thing is imposs-"

" **Your preconceptions of impossibility do not exist in this realm. We can assume any form we wish, be it the figure you see now or a force that spans the entire galaxy. Even in this limited form our reach is still incomprehensible to you. We can feel the thoughts of everything from the lowest bacteria to the highest gods. Do not doubt who we are, Chosen One."**

Anakin stood there for a moment before assuming a more relaxed stance. While he normally wouldn't just take someone's word for it, he could feel the power radiating from this entity. It contained the strength of thousands of galaxies and countless individuals and he was not even a speck before it. For one of the few times in his life the Jedi was truly humbled.

"Why are you here?" he opted to ask, deciding to ignore the fact that this entity was referring to itself in the plural form. "Surely one dead being does not warrant the attention of the Living Force itself."

" **That is where you are wrong,"** the Force shot back, its million voices showing no emotion. **"You are an extension of us. We created you to restore balance. And you failed. Spectacularly."**

"Don't remind me," Anakin muttered, before replying louder. "So is that the reason you've come to see me then? To personally oversee my punishment?"

The Force nodded, its lower face still showing no emotion.

"What shall it be then?" he asked, resignation lacing his voice. "Shall I be doomed to some Force Hell along with the rest of the Sith? Or will I be forced to wonder this space for all time?"

The Force simply shook its head in a negative to this before answering. **"Yours will not be the usual punishment. We realize that the circumstances of your fall are… unique. Therefore, a unique action to fit the unique nature of the crime is required."**

It made a gesture, and suddenly the Hero with No Fear was enveloped in chains of an ethereal quality. They looked transparent but were harder than any durasteel vice. At first he struggled, but he soon gave up on the act. He deserved whatever punishment the Force had seen fit to give him. He would take it with dignity.

He turned his masked gaze to his judge, his face resolute under his face plate. "What is to be my fate then?" he asked.

The Force raised its hand at him with the fingers splayed, as if gesturing to a crowd. **"Your punishment shall be twofold,"** it declared, its million voices booming. **"Henceforth, we strip you of the name Skywalker. That is the name of a champion of the light, and you have forfeited all rights to it. You shall now bear the name of darkness you so willingly took upon your descent."**

He nodded grimly. He was no longer Anakin Skywalker. For now on he would forever be known as Darth Vader. It was fitting. "And the rest?"

" **As your dark deeds are as numerous and severe as they are, we see only one course that is adequate for your redemption. You must prevent your past self from falling onto the dark path. You shall dedicate every breath to insuring your mistakes are not repeated."**

This declaration was followed by a long moment of silence, which was finally broken when Anakin – _Vader_ , he corrected himself – lamely replied, "Pardon?"

For the first time the Force seemed to show emotion in the form of exasperation. **"Need we repeat ourselves? We are sending you to the past, to repair the damage you have done."**

His mind finally caught up with what the Force was saying, and he felt a surge of immeasurable joy. How he had wished for the chance to be able to do it over again! And now here it was, handed to him on a silver platter!

But wait, how was giving him what he wanted a punishment? He asked this to the Force, whose reply came in the form of a small grin. **"Is is not obvious? You will fix your mistakes not as Skywalker, but as Vader. All who have known you will see only a Sith Lord. All of those you love will shun you, revile you, loathe you, and will seek your destruction. This is your true punishment; to be utterly alone. Fitting is it not?"**

The simple indifference that the Force answered with didn't detract from the impact of the words. Right then it clicked in Vader's head. The Force wasn't doing him a favor at all; in fact it was giving him one of the most severe punishments it possibly could. While it may not have appeared so, Vader's heart recently was very fragile. He had lost everything: his wife, his master and friend, his apprentice, the ability to simply _breathe_ on his own was even taken away. His heart had been shattered a long time ago, ever since that day on Mustafar, being held together only by sheer strength of will and being buried under the Dark Side. It had been brought back to the surface when he had discovered that his son was in fact alive, and for all those years he had struggled to keep himself together as he attempted to reunite with Luke. Granted he was thankful that he had been unsuccessful as it would have meant Luke falling to the Dark Side as well, but he had still sought to get a piece of his old life back all the same.

Now, he would be so close to all of his loved ones again yet at the same time so far away, unable to touch them or smile with them for a very long time, perhaps never. Instead he would have to fight them, perhaps even kill some of them. … No, he refused to do that no matter what the situation turned into. He had already hurt his friends and loved ones once; he would die before he did it again.

He looked up at the Force, his eyes glinting in determination and resolve under the black mask. He took on an air of dignity in spite of the suit. "I accept this punishment," he answered, his baritone voice ringing out. "Are there any specific conditions I need to be aware of?"

Outwardly the Force's face remained blank, but on the inside it grinned. It hadn't expected Skywalker to be so accepting of his punishment considering his history. Perhaps he had underestimated his resolve to make up for what he had done.

" **There are two conditions,"** it replied **. "First, no one must realize the truth of your purpose until the time is right. Do everything in your power to make sure they buy the ruse of you being a Sith Lord, even if it means killing Jedi; otherwise, all will come crashing down. Is that understood?"**

Vader nodded somewhat reluctantly, rather uncomfortable with facing the prospect of killing his fellow Jedi once again but at the same time steeling himself. Many Jedi would die during the war with or without his interference. He would just have to make sure he saved as many as he could, especially those who shouldn't have died in the first place.

" **Excellent. The second provision is less of a rule and more advice. We will permit you to use the Dark Side in order to maintain your identity as a Sith Lord so long as you do not delve too deeply into it. Remember to keep one foot firmly in the light or you will be forever lost."**

Vader was surprised at this. He would be allowed to tap into the Dark Side? "Aren't I being punished for using the Dark Side in the first place?" he asked.

The Force nodded. **"You are, but you misunderstand. You are being punished for delving too deeply into the darkness, not for the simple act of using it. The Light and Dark are two sides of the same coin,"** the Force said as it gestured to itself. **"We cannot exist without the other. The Darkness is a part of us, one that is misunderstood and shunned. We would have you change that."**

Vader pondered over this for a few moments before nodding in acceptance. What the Force said made sense. And besides, if the Living Force itself was saying that it was okay to use the Dark Side (at least in moderation) then who was he to turn down the chance? "I accept these terms," he finally said. "I am ready to begin my punishment."

The Force nodded in satisfaction before waving its hand. With that, the chains that had been holding Vader down disappeared, and Vader himself seemed to disintegrate into a million shards of light as he was brought back to that flat and limited realm called the "Real World."

" **Go, Chosen One,"** the Force said as it began walking off towards a recently appeared door. **"Go and defy Destiny, as you are wont to do."**

Tell next time enjoy-the author


	2. Enter lord Vader

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars

Chapter two: Enter Lord Vader

Normally the forests of Ruusan were teeming with the sounds of wildlife. Birds chirping, bushes rustling, and multiple other organic noises could be heard almost nonstop. But not today. Today, they were all silent, hiding and cowering in fear at the monster that had appeared in their midst. Today the only sound that broke the silence of Ruusan's forests was the inhuman breath of Darth Vader.

He pondered his current predicament as he made his way through the silent forests, keeping his ears open for any unnatural sounds. Aside from his breathing, anyway.

 _I know that I am on Ruusan, the climate, environment, and species all match up, but I don't know exactly when. If I remember correctly, the Separatists had set up a base in the early months of the war, which was attacked by the Republic soon after it was established. I think the Republic won that battle, though I can't remember which Jedi was in charge…_

Eventually he simply shrugged. If the base was still around he would simply make his way to it, and if not he would simply find a ship and leave the planet. Though what he would do if he _did_ find the base, he wasn't quite sure of yet…

The Sith lord shook his head. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now he was content with simply enjoying the view and contemplating his momentous task. He had been sent back in time by the Living Force itself, but not exactly as himself. He was still encased in the life support suit that had been his cage for the last twenty years, and he still relied on it to survive. That wasn't the main thing that bothered him though.

 _He wasn't the only Anakin Skywalker._

The mere thought of it was enough to make him feel slightly dizzy. He hadn't yet seen it for himself, but he knew all the same. He could feel him in the Force, his younger self. It was a strange thing, sensing your own presence in a different person. Almost disturbing. It was going to be _very_ interesting when they met for the first time. He would have to work on making sure that the younger Skywalker didn't discover his identity through the Force. If he was found out… the consequences didn't bear wondering.

The same went for his loved ones. No matter how much it hurt, he couldn't let them know who he really was. Not Obi Wan, not Ahsoka, not even Padme could know. While the thought of being close to Padme again yet unable to even touch her nearly tore his heart asunder, Vader steeled himself. It was necessary. As long as she was alive at the end, he could bear whatever might come. That didn't stop him from feeling immense sorrow.

 _I swear to you Padme, so long as I draw breath I will protect you with all my strength. I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt you. Even my younger self._

Though if it really got to the point of Vader having to kill his younger self, then he will have already failed.

The cyborg once again shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was getting ahead of himself. Before he could even begin to attempt changing the time flow, he had to find a way off of this planet.

For now, that meant finding the Separatist base if it was still intact. With a firm nod he continued in his current direction, his heavy footsteps and breathing being the only sounds that accompanied him.

* * *

Colonel Rune Gunray, Nemoidian commandant of the Separatist garrison on Ruusan (and distant relative to Nute Gunray, a fact which did nothing for his pride), was having a very bad day.

This was punctuated when the control room that he and his staff stood in rumbled from the seemingly endless Republic artillery fire that continued to rain down on their forces. Unlike most of his species, Rune was not afraid of battle, and was in fact a hardened veteran of multiple battles in the recently dubbed Clone Wars. While he had gotten his rank mainly through family connections, this did not detract from the fact that he was one of the few competent commanders within the C.I.S. and was well suited for the rank. Which was why he knew the chances of them winning this fight were slim to none.

They were heavily outnumbered, with most of the Separatist forces having been destroyed earlier on in battle against the Republic. This was due to the decision of the former base commandant, who had foolishly taken the bulk of their droid and organic troops out to the field and away from the protection of the base's AA guns. Now he was dead, and commanding what was left of the battered garrison fell to Rune.

He gritted his teeth as the command room rumbled once again. "Gentlemen, and ladies," he said to his subordinates who were gathered around a holotable which displayed the base and their forces as red icons. "As you can see, we are in a dire situation. Most of our forces have been destroyed, and we barely have enough troops to defend the base. What's more, our scouts have confirmed that the Republic forces have received reinforcements, and if my hunch is correct they will begin their advance on us soon. We have nowhere to run to, as our backs are pressed up against a cliff and the Republic is in front of us, not even mentioning the fleet they have blockading the planet. Therefore, we have two options."

He paused as he took in the faces of the officers around him. They were all grim yet determined and ready to do what was necessary. They were all good soldiers, ready to die for their comrades without a moment's hesitation. Rune couldn't have picked better men if he tried. "The first, is that we surrender to the oh so glorious Republic," this caused some of those assembled to snicker. "The second is that we hold out and pray for a miracle. Personally, I vote for the latter, but since we are fighting for democracy, I'll hear your thoughts on this."

The officers were silent for a moment before one of them, a twilek female, spoke up. "Considering that it's Vos we're facing, do we really have a choice, sir?"

They all sobered up at that. Against Quinlan Vos… no, they did not have a choice but to fight or die. He would kill them all without a moment's hesitation even if the Separatists surrendered. Vos wasn't known for his mercy, hell the man treated his own troops like they were machines instead of living beings. His own soldiers certainly wouldn't be given any leniency seeing as they were the enemy.

He nodded grimly to the female. "Unfortunately, the major brings up a valid point. Either we fight, or we die. I don't know about the rest of you, but if I'm going to die today, then I'm going to make them _work_ for it."

There were multiple nods of agreement throughout the room, with someone even muttering 'you said it, colonel' under their breath. He smiled earnestly at them. Yes, they were all good soldiers. "Alright, now that that's decided, I need a sitrep on what we have left. Captain?"

The indicated man nodded as he pressed a few buttons on the holotable which began to display troop strengths and other statistics. "It's not as bad as it could be. We still have 500 battle droids ready to go: 300 B1s, 150 Supers, and…," his eyes widened slightly at the next number. "No less than fifty Destroyer droids."

There was a low whistle, and Rune didn't blame them. Fifty Destroyers wouldn't change the eventual outcome of this fight, but they would definitely make things difficult for the Republic forces. "Continue," he said, gesturing to the officer who nodded.

"As for organic troops we have sixty three combat ready. We also have plenty of ammunition and gas packs despite the former commandant's," he said this with obvious contempt. "Venture. Vehicle wise we are woefully underequipped."

Rune was sure if had eyebrows he would have raised one of them. "Care to elaborate?"

The man gained a look that Rune most certainly did not like before replying quietly. "We have no vehicles left, sir. The former commandant took them all."

He stared blankly at the man. Surely he had heard wrong. He waited for the man to look at the statistics and say that he had missed something. But his hopes were for naught, and as the colonel realized this he cursed vehemently. Without any ground vehicles to support them they were utterly kriffed. Even if the base had a defensive wall completely surrounding it that would matter little against the AT-TEs, which the Republic force had _a lot_ of. Fifty, to be precise. "Do we have any anti-vehicle weaponry?" he whispered, dreading the answer.

The captain shook his head. "No, sir. It was assumed that we wouldn't need any, what with the armor we used to have with us."

His shoulders slumped as reality set in. Without any armor to keep the walkers occupied, the wall would be torn down in a matter of hours. Maybe less. The only way this could get worse would be if their AA lasers stopped working.

The AA lasers…

Rune straightened as hope flashed in his eyes. "The AA guns. Could we reprogram the ones on the wall to target enemies on the ground?"

The captain's eyes widened. It was obvious yet none of them had realized it. "It would be a simple matter sir. I'm sure they could be reprogrammed in a matter of minutes."

The Nemoidian nodded, his face determined. "Get someone on it ASAP."

The human captain saluted before rushing off to carry out the order. Rune turned to the rest of the officers. "Have we received any word from space yet?"

One of them shook their heads. "Nothing yet sir. It would seem our navy has yet to break the Republic blockade. Last I heard though they're still trying."

"We'll have to hold out until they do," he said grimly. "For now we're on our own."

On their own without any reinforcements headed their way in the near future, and outnumbered three to one. It didn't help that most of their troops were droids. The Supers were decent in a fight, but the B1s were little more than cannon fodder. It seemed the only things they had going for them were the AA guns and the wall around the base; the former was keeping the Republic gunships from simply pounding them into oblivion while the latter gave their troops the high ground and kept the enemy from simply swarming into the base.

In the end Rune knew it wouldn't be enough. Eventually something would go wrong, and the Republic would take the base no matter how hard they fought. It was only a matter of time. Still though, that wouldn't stop him from making sure he took as many of them with him as he could. Who knows? He might even get lucky and take out Vos while he was at it. For a moment Rune wished he had the same access to the powers that the Jedi wielded, and wondered how the Force would have helped him get out of this situation.

Unknown to him, it had already given Rune all the help he would need. He would just have to get to the base first.

* * *

It was still something of an awe inspiring sight, seeing this much firepower gathered in one place. Clone troops either marched or stood in formation, their rifles held at their shoulders and their white armor seeming to shine even though it was scuffed and worn from the fighting. Gunships sat at the ready with their engines rumbling, the pilots itching to get back into the fight. The massive forms of the AT-TEs lumbered forward, their gray hulls bristling with firepower.

Kento Marek knew that this was still a drop in the bucket for the Grand Army, but that didn't stop him from being impressed. He was a handsome young man, with close cropped brown hair and eyes that blazed with strength and determination. Determination to prove his worth as a Jedi, and to show everyone his strength. Like many other young Jedi, Kento saw the war as an opportunity to demonstrate his skill and prove his worth as a Jedi. He had yet to achieve Knighthood, but he knew he was close as his master Quinlan Vos had said so himself.

Speaking of his master…

"Kento!" a gruff voice called out from behind him, making the young Jedi turn around to face his master who had stopped a few steps away with a clone in tow. "What are you doing just standing around?"

He had the grace to look sheepish as he replied. "I… umm…"

Vos interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Never mind that. We're about to advance on the Separatist base, and I need you leading our forces from the front."

The padawan's eyes widened in surprise. Did he hear his master right? "You mean you want me to…"

The Jedi master nodded, a small smile on his face. "Yes, you've earned it. Your performance throughout this war has been exemplary. It's time you earned your stripes."

"I… thank you, master!" he cried happily. Finally, a command of his own! "I promise I won't let you down!"

The Kiffar nodded. "I'm sure you won't. Now before you leave, CT-5763 here," he said as he gestured to the clone, who Marek saw was a captain. "Will brief you on our attack plan. It will also give you strategic and tactical advice, though I doubt that will be necessary."

Kento nodded neutrally. "I understand, master."

"Good," Vos nodded as he turned and began walking off leaving Kento and the trooper to themselves.

The padawan turned to the clone with a confident smile on his face. "Well captain, those clankers won't shoot themselves. We'd best get a move on."

The trooper nodded, and together they began heading to a gunship. After a small silence Kento decided to try and strike up a conversation with the soldier. He was going to be working with him after all. "I'm Kento, by the way," he said with an easy going smile. "What's your name?"

"CT-5763, at your service, sir," the trooper replied, causing Kento to frown slightly.

"Not your designation, I mean your actual name."

The clone seemed to regard him for a moment before hesitantly replying. "… Asher, sir."

Kento smiled, glad that he knew the man's name. "Well, it's nice to meet you Asher."

They walked on in silence for a moment. Eventually Kento asked, "So, what's our plan Asher?"

The soldier relayed him the plan, and Kento thought it was simple enough. An advance force under his command would travel in gunships towards the Separatist base before landing outside of the range of their guns. They would then proceed to launch an assault on the base's walls in an alleged attempt to break in. In reality however they were but a distraction. While Kento's troops attacked the base, two squads of Commandoes would infiltrate the base and proceed to knock out the AA guns, taking away the Confederates' only defense against their air superiority. Once that was done his master would arrive with the main force, the majority of which would be transported by air, and they would then proceed to overwhelm the base with their numbers and firepower.

As Asher finished relaying the plan they boarded their gunship, whose troop bay was loaded to the brim with clones ready for battle. Kento couldn't help but admire them for a moment. They were fine soldiers, and he was proud to be fighting alongside these men. He didn't understand why his master demeaned them so often, they were all great people once you got to know them.

That wasn't important though. He was about to head off to battle, and he needed to have a clear head if he was going to show he was ready to be a Knight. He could worry about his master's treatment of their soldiers later.

As the gunship and its brethren lifted off he turned to Asher who stood next to him readying a DC-15. "Hey Asher," he said, getting the clone's attention. "When we get into the fight, don't hesitate to tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I'd be grateful to have your advice."

The clone seemed to regard him from behind his helmet for a moment before he slowly nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, sir."

Grinning, Kento turned back to face the front of the compartment as he held on to one of the handles hanging from the ceiling. He couldn't help but widen the grin on his face as they got closer to the Separatist stronghold. His first command without his master directly watching over him… the though made him giddy with excitement. He couldn't help but feel that things would change for him today.

He had no idea just how right he was.

* * *

Vader had been walking for some time now, and was starting to grow tired. How long had it been? An hour? It certainly felt that way, and yet the Separatist base was nowhere in sight. He briefly considered stopping for a rest but quickly brushed off the idea. Time was of the essence, and he could not afford to waste a single second.

Still that didn't stop him from wondering just how much further he would have to walk. Was even going in the right direction? Because if he had gone the wrong way he was going to be very annoyed.

He stopped suddenly as he felt the Force shift and everything save for his breathing went silent. He had felt something, a presence that was watching him with a worrying amount of focus. The ex-Sith stretched out his senses to try and get a better read on the presence, and his efforts paid off.

There were four of them, soldiers from the feel of it, surrounding him. He focused harder, trying to determine who they were. From the feel of their Force signatures and emotions he guessed that they were clones, though he couldn't tell much more than that. It was always hard to get anything concrete out of simply reading a person's Force signature, even for someone as powerful as him. He was able to tell one thing from the reading though. They all had their weapons aimed straight at him. He bit back the urge to groan in annoyance. It wasn't even his first day back and already someone was pointing a blaster at him. If he didn't know better he would say that the Force had it out for him.

He pondered what to do as he stood there motionlessly, but before he could decide four armored figures burst from the woods with their rifles aimed at different points on his body. Their signature Katarn armor gave the Commandoes away for the elite soldiers that they were. Damn, this was annoying. Now he would have to waste even more time dealing with these soldiers before moving on to the base. Well, on the bright side he supposed this meant that he was at least fairly close to the base. The cyborg doubted that a squad of clone commandoes would be out in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason.

One of them, the leader he presumed, stepped in front of him with his rifle point squarely at Vader's face. "Hands where I can see 'em," he said gruffly, which Vader simply ignored. This caused the clone to snap at him. "Did you hear me, Sep? I said hands where I can see them!"

The Chosen One simply scoffed as he put his fists on his hips, assuming a stance he often did when annoyed. "I do not have time for this foolishness," he replied shortly. "Leave at once."

One of the clones barked out a condescending laugh. "You think you're in any position to give us orders? I'd do what the sergeant says, otherwise this will get ugly."

He did not move from his pose, his chin tilted up in defiance. "I do not answer to you. Leave now, or there will be consequences."

He really didn't have time for this. He didn't want to kill the clones if he didn't have to, but if it came down to it he would. The thought made him slightly uncomfortable, but Vader knew that sometimes you had to dirty your hands to achieve your goal. Twenty years as the spearhead of an expanding empire had taught him that, if nothing else.

The barrel of a blaster being shoved in his face answered his threat. "I'd watch my mouth if I were you," the lead clone answered hotly. "We've already called this in, and more clones are on their way. You're not going anywhere you… whatever you are."

Vader stopped completely as the commando's words registered. Damnit, now he had no choice but to kill them. He steeled his heart as he drew on the Force. "I see," he said in reply. "Then I am afraid you must die. I am sorry."

Before the clones could react he lifted them all up with the Force, applying pressure to their windpipes. In an instant all of their necks were snapped, and the armored bodies fell to the ground with four heavy thuds. At the very least he had been able to give them a quick death. As fellow warriors they deserved at least that much.

He began walking off when he heard something crackle, and he realized it was coming from the dead sergeant's helmet. Kneeling down to remove the helmet, he held it up as he realized the crackle had actually been the trooper's comm.

" _Beta Squad, be advised, we are beginning attack. Requesting a sitrep on your progress to the base and the prisoner you've apprehended. Do you copy?"_

Vader threw the helmet to the ground as he resumed his walking, his pace noticeably quicker than before. Apparently the Republic had begun its attack, and he needed to get to that base, _now._ Hopefully there would still be a ship there by the time he arrived. He knew he could always steal a Republic ship, but he didn't want to run the risk of revealing himself to the Jedi, at least not yet.

His pace became even faster as the sounds of explosions began to ring out. He was close, he could tell. The cyborg noticed the forest beginning to thin out, and nearly broke out into a run as he tried to get a look at the base.

Once he exited the trees the sight that greeted him was nothing short of chaos.

Red and blue blaster bolts filled the air, as soldiers and droids from both sides aimed their weapons and tried to score a hit on the enemy. In front of a walled complex which Vader realized was the Separatist base a mass of white was scurrying about as the clones tried to find cover from the onslaught of Confederate fire coming from the wall. Among the attacking force a group ten AT-TEs exchanged fire with the heavy lasers mounted on the wall, desperately trying to destroy the guns before they themselves were destroyed. Meanwhile above the ground gunships and V-19 Torrents swarmed around the base, doing their best to avoid the AA fire coming from within while adding their own firepower to the fray. It was a spectacular display, with the aerial vehicles performing all sorts of maneuvers and acrobatics to avoid the deadly streaks of red bolts flying at them. Some were still hit, and the occasional fireball accompanied by the AA guns' flak lit up the afternoon sky above the battle.

Vader made to move closer to the base, but then stopped. It would be unwise to make his move before he had a complete understanding of the situation. For all he knew there wasn't a single ship in the Separatist base, and he didn't want to risk his neck for nothing. It would be better to wait for the right moment. Also he felt a presence that was… familiar. It was just on the tip of his tongue, and for the life of him he couldn't remember where he had last felt it. Perhaps he should wait for this person to reveal themselves.

With that in mind, the former Dark Lord simply sat back and watched the battle unfold.

For now he would remain a spectator.

* * *

The base was in chaos as the Republic attack intensified. The sounds of the battle had already reached a fever pitch, with the whine of blasters, cries of pain from organic soldiers, and endless explosions mixing together in a maddening symphony. On the walls of the Separatist stronghold droids poured out a withering barrage of fire down on the Republic force, forcing the attacking clones to either take cover or be pelted by blaster fire.

One of the AA guns that had been modified to target the Republic walkers swiveled on its base as it did just that. The targeting program locked on to the six legged machine and let loose a hail of ruby bolts. The gun's aim was true and the walker was consumed in fire, taking the crew and a few surrounding clones with it. The gun's programming, incapable of emotion simply noted that it had eliminated a target before moving for another lock on. Before it could find its next victim however a clone aimed a rocket launcher at the gun and fired, the deadly projectile screaming as it left the launcher at high speed. Like the walker before it the gun was destroyed in a brilliant explosion, consuming the droids that were too close to it.

A Super Battle Droid on the walls did not even acknowledge this as it continued to calmly fire its arm mounted blasters at the Republic forces alongside its black painted brethren and the more spindly B1s. Its limited intelligence was slightly thankful that it was a droid and therefore did not feel emotion. Emotions led to things like fear and panic. Such things were useless in a battle, and would only prevent the droid from performing its one function: to kill.

It aimed its blaster at a clone who had poked his head a little too far above cover and fired a precise burst. The effect was nearly instantaneous, as the clone was struck right in between his eyes and didn't even have time to scream before he fell over, dead.

The Super noted its kill with a calm detachment as it returned to indiscriminately firing at the Republic lines. If its intelligence had been more complex, like that of an OOM-9 Tactical Droid it would have wondered why the force that was attacking them was holding back. The clones seemed content to hang back and exchange fire with the droids from the ground, an exercise that would end in folly. It also would have wondered why the force seemed undermanned compared to the reports of their scouts on the strength of the main Republic force. Granted ten AT-TEs and 400 clones was nothing to sneeze at, especially for 500 battle droids, but compared with what they were capable of fielding it simply seemed… inadequate, half-hearted almost. As if the Republic forces weren't even _trying_ to take the base.

But the droid was nothing more than a killing machine, and it did not stop to ponder the Republic commander's seeming incompetence, it simply continued doing what it was programmed to do. Kill.

As it continued to pour fire into the clone forces it failed to take notice of an AT-TE aiming its main gun at its section of the wall. None of the droids did actually, as they were too busy aiming down at the attacking clones. By pure chance the B2 looked up to see a bolt of blue hellfire streaking directly at it. It let out a surprised mechanical rumble before it and multiple other droids were destroyed.

* * *

In the Separatist command center Rune watched the battle proceed on a holotable with a thoughtful gaze. He had picked up on the fact that the Republic assault seemed undermanned and halfhearted, and he couldn't help but feel worry. At first glance it would appear that the Republic commander was simply incompetent, but Rune knew better than to assume that. There was something that he was missing.

"Area Four just took a hit," a droid technician called out, gaining his attention. "Severe damage to the wall is reported along with multiple casualties. They are requesting reinforcements."

One of his officers stepped forward. "Have three squads move in to fill the gap-"

"Belay that," Rune said calmly, earning him a startled look.

"But sir, if we don't reinforce that area then the wall will be overrun!"

The Nemoidian colonel shook his head as he gestured to the holotable. "Look at their forces. If they were trying to break down the wall they would be swarming that area to try and capitalize on the damage. What do you see them doing?"

The officer scrutinized the holotable for a moment before his eyes lit up in realization. "They haven't moved at all. They're just staying as is."

Rune nodded in confirmation, absently stroking his chin as he observed the holotable. "Why is that, I wonder?" he asked to no one in particular.

What did his opponent possibly hope to gain through this attack?

"We've detected intruders near the reactor!" a droid suddenly shouted, causing everyone to look to it in alarm. "Reports indicate that they're commandoes!"

All of a sudden it clicked. The small assault, the seeming indifference of the Republic force, it all made sense.

The force attacking them wasn't trying to take the base at all. They were merely a distraction.

As he shouted for reinforcements to be sent to the reactor, he already knew that it was too late, as he had fallen into the Republic trap and had no hope of getting out.

* * *

RC-0561, or Thumper as he liked to be called, cursed vehemently as he ducked behind a crate to avoid a blaster bolt to the face. Katarn armor might have been tough, but it wasn't indestructible.

He briefly looked behind him to where his last remaining teammate was setting the charges to detonate the reactor. The sergeant and one of their other squad members had been killed when a human Sep had thrown a grenade that caught the two clones off guard. The explosion hadn't killed them, but the blast had distracted the two commandoes enough for the man to shoot them both in the head.

Thumper had repaid the Sep in kind with a blaster bolt to the face.

Now it was just him and the squad's demolitions expert, Boomer that were left to carry out the mission. They had both realized that with their squad cut down to half strength and Beta Squad not there to assist them this had turned into a one way trip. Both commandoes, instead of panicking at the situation, had become determined to take as many of the Separatist bastards as they could with them.

With that in mind Thumper rose from cover and sprayed a wall of blaster fire at the advancing droids, cutting them down with impunity. He hated the droids, they didn't feel things like fear, and would keep coming in endless waves no matter how many of their fellows they saw cut down. That was one thing they had going for them he supposed. The tin cans just didn't have any quit in them.

He pulled a grenade from his belt and primed it before tossing it in the middle of the Separatists, grinning as he heard several shouts of surprise. "Grenade out!" he shouted as he ducked behind cover just before an explosion that would have been deafening were it not for his helmet's audio filters rocked the room.

He looked over his cover to survey his handy work, and couldn't help the sadistic grin that crossed his face. The reactor room was in ruins from the blast, and both droid and organic parts littered the area.

"And… done!" Boomer exclaimed from behind him, causing the commando to turn around and see a multitude of explosive devices set on the reactor. "Nicely done, if I do say so myself."

Thumper chuckled, hefting his rifle as he did so. "Yeah, well while you were busy planting those charges, _I_ was fighting off the whole kriffing droid army."

Boomer took on an indignant pose. "Hey, you can't rush this! Art takes time and careful attention so that it can be perfect."

Thumper couldn't help it. In spite of the gravity of their situation, he laughed. "Art my ass! You're just-," He would have continued, but in that moment two things happened.

The first was that he heard a soft groan come from behind them, and he whirled around to terminate its source.

The second was that the source of the groan, a wounded human male, fired his blaster pistol before slipping away into darkness. The bolt went wide of Thumper, and he felt a surge of relief at the fact that it would miss.

The thing was, it wasn't aimed at him.

The commando turned in horror as Boomer, his comrade, his friend, his _brother,_ was hit in the neck of his body suit, perhaps the most vulnerable place on his entire body in the armor. It was a difficult shot, for the wounded man it should have been an impossible shot, but that did not change the fact that his brother was on the ground and clutching his neck and _why wasn't he answering him?_

"Boomer, hey Boomer!" he called, his voice a mixture of dismay and sadness. "Get up, come on!"

But Boomer did not get up, and it was with anguish that Thumper realized that he wasn't going to get up. Now it might have seemed odd to an outside observer that he would be this distressed over his comrade's death when they had both known that they wouldn't be getting out of here alive. The thing was, the two clones had been planning to die on _their_ terms, being consumed in the explosion that would knock out the base's reactor and its damned AA guns and give the deaths of their squad mates meaning.

Instead of being granted that, Boomer had been shot in the neck by some Sep that he had somehow managed to only wound, however fatally, instead of kill. He hadn't gotten to choose how he would die, and, Thumper thought, it was all his fault.

He was numb as he simply sat there, gazing down at his squad mate's already cooling corpse, and only looked up when he heard the faint sounds of destroyer droids rolling down the hall toward his position. Mutely he reached over and picked up the detonator that had fallen out of his friend's hands, cradling it against his chest as if it was a newborn.

For a moment he simply sat there with his head bowed as if in prayer, and stayed that way until he heard the destroyers rolling into the room and deploying. Just as they finished uncurling from their circular forms Thumper simply pushed down on the button with his thumb. No elaborate speeches, no memorable last stands, just a brief moment of intense heat, and then nothing.

* * *

The black shape of Vader watched stoically as a portion of the Separatist compound exploded in a fantastic fireball that lit up the sky for a brief, brilliant moment before dying down. The battle seemed to stop for a moment as all of the combatants, even the simple minded droids, took this in. He felt a surge of emotions rush forth from both sides. Shock, horror, triumph, calm acknowledgement, satisfaction, and anticipation.

The pause lasted only a moment before the battle resumed with a new intensity, fueled by the desperation of the Separatists and the determination of the clones to win. A Republic victory was inevitable. With its AA defenses offline there was nothing to protect the base from the fury of the Republic air forces who attacked with everything they had, eager to avenge the deaths of their fellow pilots.

At the same time Vader noted a number of dots appearing on the horizon and closing rapidly. That must have been the main Republic force, called in to finish the job now that the AA guns were offline. Now the cyborg knew that there was no chance the Separatists could win. There were dozens of gunships carrying hundreds of fresh clones and multiple walkers. He could sense a Force signature among them as well, stronger than the one he had felt earlier yet still familiar, and in curiosity he reached out with his senses to determine the individual's identity while at the same time keeping himself hidden. As soon as he barely grazed the presence he figured out who it was and pulled back, not willing to risk being spotted.

 _Hmm, so Vos is here is he?_ He silently mused. _I don't remember him being sent to Ruusan the first time around. Oh well, perhaps I've just forgotten. It has been twenty years after all._

With that he began to turn around and walk away, as there was nothing left for him here. He had come to Separatist base hoping to get a ship. Obviously he wouldn't be able to do that now.

As he began walking away though the Force nudged him, silently telling him to stay. And that was when he felt it.

 _Multiple signatures, packed together, moving fast,_ he analyzed. _From where?_

A moment later he pinpointed the direction, and as he turned to look at the newcomers his stomach dropped.

This was not good.

* * *

"I say again, civilian transports are approaching, hold your fire," Asher shouted into his comm. as he and Kento knelt behind cover along with a squad of clones. For his part Kento looked at the transports with a healthy dose of nervousness. After all, a battlefield was the last place civilians needed to be.

Kento had felt the transports as they approached, and after getting a feel of their intentions he had hastily ordered his forces to hold their fire lest they hit the transports. The Separatists seemed to be doing the same thing, as any weapons fire coming from the base was decidedly _not_ aimed anywhere near the direction of the transports. It made his respect for the Confederate in charge there go up a couple of notches. It seemed they had a sense of honor as well. At the same time they had sent a message to his master detailing the situation and asking for orders. They hadn't received a reply yet, but it would probably come soon.

Speak of the devil, as soon as he thought that Asher held out a comm. to him. "It's General Vos sir," he said in explanation. "He wants to speak to you personally."

Kento nodded, accepting the device as he activated it. His master's cold look surprised him. "Master Vos," he said in greeting, hiding his nervousness at his master's signature. It was radiating annoyance. "I-"

"Why haven't you shot those transports down yet?" Vos interrupted, shocking the Jedi padawan and clones present. "Hurry up and destroy them."

"B-but, they're carrying civilians," Kento protested, shocked at his master's orders. "Why would we shoot them down?"

"Don't you realize it Kento?" Vos asked rhetorically, as if the reason was obvious. "Those transports could be carrying reinforcements and weapons, and yet you're allowing them straight through to the Separatists!"

Kento's eyes widened. What was his master saying? Could he not feel what was coming from the transports? They were harmless! "I don't feel any hostility from them though!" he protested in a stronger voice. "They aren't here to relieve the Separatists! They're just civilians who've gone off course!"

Vos's reply had the tone of a parent lecturing a child. Kento noted that it filled him with a quiet fury even though he tried to suppress it. "Kento, you should know that there are ways of preventing a Jedi from feeling the true intentions of an individual. It would only make sense that the Separatists would fool us into thinking they were civilian transports. We however know better than to fall for such tricks. Shoot them down, that is an order."

Kento's face hardened, and he was about to give a scathing retort when Vos added, "And if you don't, you can consider your days as a Jedi over."

The padawan blanched, his mouth agape. His master couldn't be serious could he? Yes, he realized as he stared at Vos's cold visage, he was dead serious and wouldn't hesitate about it. He knew that being a Jedi meant everything to Kento. It seemed he also knew how to exploit it.

"It will be done, master," he said in a shaking voice before Vos cut the transmission. With that he turned to Asher, and even without the Force he knew was looking at him in sympathy and pity. "Target the transports," he said in little more than a whisper.

"Sir…" Asher began, but Kento cut him off.

"Just… just do it."

Asher stopped before nodding stiffly and issuing the order. He had to repeat it three times to confirm the shocked inquiries of the fighter pilots.

As a trio of V-19s broke off and headed to the transports, Kento could only sit and watch, the battle around him seemingly forgotten as he stared at the fighters who seemed to be reluctant as they neared their targets.

As they entered weapons range and opened fire, Kento felt a tear slide down his cheek, and inside of him he felt the respect he had once held for his master die with each transport that was engulfed in ugly red flames.

Something else was planted in him as well, something that he failed to notice. It was but a small seed, but the smallest of seeds can bear the largest trees. It was something that would fester and grow in Kento until it became enormous. It was doubt, doubt in his actions, doubt in his dreams, and doubt in the Jedi Order in its entirety.

* * *

Vader staggered back as if he had been physically struck. Surely he was hallucinating? That had to be it. Two decades in his life support suit had finally caused him to snap, because there was no way the Republic had just shot down three unarmed transports for no reason at all. Had the Jedi _lost their minds_?

He reached out to the two Force signatures, brushing each of them simultaneously with a phantom touch that he knew neither would notice. The mystery signature was in a state of shock and shame, and Vader felt a brief pang of pity for the individual before he moved on to the other. What he found filled him with rage.

 _Satisfaction._

The Jedi was _pleased_ that this had happened. It made the ex-Sith's visage darken even more than it already was, but he composed himself as he decided to risk delving deeper. In spite of the risks he had to know why.

He felt no regret from the Jedi, Vos he remembered, only calm justification and self-righteousness. _It was for the greater good_ , Vader picked up from the man's feelings. _It was necessary, they stood in the way of the light and were therefore destroyed._

Vader stood frozen as he retreated from both of the Jedi, surprised that neither had sensed him, especially Vos. That was at the back of his mind though as what he had felt from Vos's head repeat in his mind like a mantra.

 _That_ was his justification? They were destroyed because they weren't on the side of the light? Surely he hadn't just read that from the mind of a Jedi.

And yet, even as Vader thought this he knew it was true. Now that he thought about it, he had seen this attitude countless times before. When Jedi stole a speeder to chase someone down, when they more or less kidnapped children from their families to train them in the Force, when they killed someone, he had felt this same thing from each Jedi. _I am on the good side, therefore this is justified._

Vader would be the first to admit that he had done horrible things. He had manipulated, tortured, killed, and flat-out lied to achieve his goals under Sidious. But he hadn't lied to himself. He had known what he was doing was most likely wrong and he had accepted it. He hadn't tried to hide behind a wall of justifications and self-righteousness. And yet here the Jedi were, doing just that. Were they that deluded? If so, then they weren't fit to run the galaxy any longer.

He blinked as he saw the large force of gunships closing in on the base. The Separatist fire seemed to have intensified in spite of their losses, and he could feel their anger and horror, their righteous fury as they fought to avenge what had happened here. Even the droids seemed fiercer than usual. Vader was unsurprised when found that he felt that same fury. It wasn't the kind of blind fury that he had felt before, it was the sort that demanded justice and would not stop until it had received it.

At that moment, any thoughts that Vader had of leaving the Separatists to their fate were banished from his mind. It was clear who the more honorable and realistic side was in this battle, and by the Force he would not see them lose, not if he had a say. He bent his legs slightly as he pulled his arms back and gathered his energy. He called upon his righteous fury, called upon his horror at what had been done to those civilians and used it to channel the Dark Side into his body.

He was briefly surprised when he felt the Dark Side once again. Before it had been a dark voice at his ear, tempting him with power and glory if he would only sink himself into it further. Now it was completely different. What he felt was not a dark temptress but a determined comrade, ready to aid him in whatever way it could. Wait, since when had the Dark Side ever struck him as a _comrade_?

He smiled as he remembered what the Force had told him. _The Darkness is a part of us, one that is misunderstood and shunned. We would have you change that._

 _So this is the true nature of the Dark Side,_ he thought as he gathered his strength. _I feel… like I can depend on it, that it has my back. This is… incredible!_

His grin turned predatory as the two Jedi finally registered the buildup of energy that he was producing. It was too late for them to do anything.

With a push of his arms, Darth Vader unleashed his power.

And the Force _flared._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars

Chapter Two: Deus ex Machina

 _Separatist Base, Ruusan_

All human beings have within them an ingrained primal terror, a system designed over their evolutionary course to alert them of danger and motivate the body to escape so that it might survive whatever doom may befall it. It constitutes the voice in the brain telling that person to run for their life or they will die a horrible death. It was both action-spurring and paralyzing, forcing upon the human consciousness a perplexing state of limbo in which the individual struggles with nothing else but the simple need of what to _do_.

What Kento saw now, what he felt within the very depths of his body and soul, far exceeded that primal terror. So paralyzed he was that he could not even tremble in fear as he felt the Dark Side explode with all its malevolence and vengeance, tearing into his men with such a foul and all-consuming _hatred_ that can only be born from an eternity of evil. He could feel each and every one of the pilots' pain as they were sent plummeting to their deaths, all the while the fighters that had served them so loyally turned on their wielders with their sharp wires and circuits and shards of glass and metal and literally ate them alive. Even as they were consumed in fire he could still hear the screams. He vaguely noticed that Asher had thrown off his helmet to rid himself of the unholy noise.

But even if he had wanted to he would not have been able to focus on Asher, for his shaking eyes could only behold one being. Standing atop a cliff overlooking the battlefield, garbed in black with a spot of gray on the chest, was a monster. It was simply inhuman. Even from so far away he could see with crystal clarity the way its cape flared out behind it like a winged demon, the way its gloved hands clenched oh so cruelly into fists as they used the Force to erase every single Republic fighter from the skies.

But its face, its face! That horrible thing! It had no mouth, no nose, no ears, not even a strand of hair to adorn the bare black surface. But the eyes. Even now the young Jedi could see those blank reflective eyes looking directly at him, judging every inch of his being, and finding him wanting. It was all Kento could do to not curl into a ball and whimper. But he was not silent. He uttered one single word, mouthed with such a fear that had not been heard in its pronouncement in a thousand years.

"Sith…"

And like a signal had been sounded, the Sith braced itself, and _moved._

* * *

Darth Vader soared through the air towards the Republic forces carried on the currents of the Force. The Dark Side blazed about him, filling his ears with its war trumpets and notes of death. The Republic aerial forces had been utterly shattered, their once proud fighters now hulks of metal falling upon the Republic troops and crushing multiple clones.

He smiled grimly as he sensed their terror and panic, inadvertently feeding his own dark powers. However even as those powers grew he drew upon the light at the same time. Not to use as a weapon against his opponents but to insure that the darkness did not take over and drive him insane. It may be a comrade, but that did not mean it was an ally.

He landed with a great crash amidst the Republic forces, igniting his crimson lightsaber with a flinch inducing _snap-hiss_ as he drank in their fear. Even the Jedi seemed paralyzed with indecision, though the younger which he assumed to have not even made Knighthood was experiencing far more fear than the master Vos. As for the clones it seemed to be all they could do just to aim their weapons without their arms shaking uncontrollably. There was no sound except for his deep breaths which echoed across the battlefield like a dying man struggling in vain to take his final gasps.

He remembered what Sidious had said about going into situations like this, and while Vader was loathe to use something learned from that vile creature he had to admit the man's methods had their merits. _Striking head on against a foe both stronger and greater in number than you is foolhardy. If you are to win against the best of the Jedi, you must have fear and intimidation on your side. You must_ break _them, my apprentice._

Well, he certainly seemed to have broken them. Now to destroy them.

As if sensing his thought the clones opened fire as one upon the newcomer, though it was a futile effort. The Sith cyborg simply deflected the shots with his lightsaber, calculating each deflection to hit some unfortunate trooper. He tired of simply deflecting the clones' shots after a few moments, and decided to be a bit more… liberal, in his usage of power.

With a thought Vader gathered the Force to him and unleashed it in a massive wave of energy that blew outwards with the force of a hurricane. Bones were shattered and bodies pulverized as the clones that had been closest to him felt the full effects of the Force wave. The Sith wasted no time in advancing forward, noting in the back of his mind that the Separatists had resumed their firing with a vengeance, trapping the Republic force in between their rain of hellfire and his own ferocious onslaught.

His lightsaber weaved a macabre pattern around him as he slashed and parried through the Republic ranks, cutting down any clone foolish enough to get in his way. A clone was cut in half there, while another lost his head here. In the end they all died.

He had just wrenched his lightsaber out of a clone's chest when the Force cried in alarm, and he jumped to the left to avoid a blast from an AT-TE's main cannon. For a moment the Sith stared at the massive walker, as if questioning just why it had deigned itself worthy to even aim a weapon at him. But then he moved forward with speed that could only be achieved with the Force, and before the crew of the walker could react he was perched on top of the main cannon staring into the gunner's T-visor.

The poor soldier quickly found his head no longer attached to his body courtesy of a lightsaber, and following that Vader brought his fist down onto the back of the walker with frankly horrifying strength. With a single punch the AT-TE was crippled, reacting like a live animal that had just had its spine shattered: it crumpled to the ground no longer able to stand, most of the crew dead from the impact.

The Sith jumped down from the out of commission walker, but turned when he heard the familiar sound of gunships approaching. Indeed, nearly the entire fleet of gunships was bearing down upon him, and in the lead transport Vader could feel Vos. He sensed the Jedi's intention, and sheathed his lightsaber as he braced himself in preparation to retaliate.

As one the gunships fired missiles from the cannons mounted where the wings began, and Vader gathered the Force around himself as the deadly warheads careened toward him. He concentrated, gathering as much power as he could. He had done something similar to this before, but never with so many missiles at once.

Closer and closer the rockets came, but still he did not act.

 _Not yet, not yet… Now!_

Vader thrust his arms forward, exerting his will upon the Force as he sought to gain control of the missiles. Immediately they slowed down substantially, until eventually each missile was suspended in mid-air, struggling against the invisible force which now had them in its grip. All across the battlefield everyone watched in shock as the missiles froze in mid-air before they began to turn. To the horror of the Republic, the missiles were no longer pointed at the Sith, but at _them._

Under his helmet Vader smirked as he released the missiles from his hold, and in an instant they were speeding back towards the LAATs with all the speed of vengeful seraphs.

All too easy.

In the blink of an eye the once formidable flotilla of Republic gunships was engulfed in fire as the missiles made contact. The clone pilots, having been in shock over the fact that their missiles were now heading right back at them, struggled to avoid the weapons that had been turned against them. Even with their skill, most of the gunships were hit, and soon the air was filled with blinding explosions as ships were either completely destroyed or sent hurtling to the ground, taking the troops that would have been reinforcing their brothers already on the field with them.

The clone troops who had not been on the gunships could only watch in shock as practically their entire army was destroyed in the blink of an eye. The Republic forces had come to Ruusan 1500 strong, with a plethora of fighters, gunships, and AT-TEs to support them. It wasn't that large a force compared with some of the other battles that had already taken place, but it was certainly adequate to deal with the Separatist base on Ruusan.

In an instant the Fourth Battalion of the of the 101st Brigade had been reduced to less than ten AT-TEs, a handful of aircraft and approximately 150 clone troopers who were already weary from fighting the Separatists. All by the hand of one man, if he could even be called that.

For his part Vader was focused on a single gunship that was hurtling straight towards him, its engines aflame as it tried and failed to stay in the air. Even as it got closer the Sith did not move a single inch. He could feel the Jedi on board, he could feel Vos's shock as his entire battalion was torn apart before his very eyes.

As Vos's gunship hurtled over the Sith he could see a figure jump out the side as the LAAT passed overhead, and upon further observation he saw it to be the Jedi master himself. The kiffar landed with a thump in front of Vader as the gunship hit the ground behind him and was consumed in a rather large explosion, casting the Sith cyborg in front of a giant fireball as his black cape whipped about like demonic wings.

For his part Vos righted himself with his lightsaber drawn and ignited, the blue blades of the saber staff casting his face in an blue glow. Vader drew his own lightsaber but did not ignite it. That would change very soon however.

Vos eyed him up for a moment before speaking. "It would seem that the late Qui-Gon Jinn was right. The Sith have indeed returned."

Vader remained silent, his mechanical breathing the only answer to Vos's question. His grip on his lightsaber grew tighter as his finger neared the activation stud.

Vos glared. "You don't talk much do you? Well I suppose it doesn't matter. You'll be dead soon enough, monster."

Under his helmet Vader cocked his eyebrow. "Monster, you say? Well it is only fitting that monsters would fight one another on such a battlefield, wouldn't you agree?"

Vos did not respond save for the narrowing of his eyes. Vader could sense his confusion and annoyance at the remark. "You shot down civilian transports that posed no threat to you. Why?"

Even if he had read it through the Force Vader had to know why. Why someone who claimed to follow the Jedi code could lower themselves to such barbarism.

Vos's eyebrows rose in surprise at the question, but he answered nonetheless. "They were an unknown variable and I acted accordingly. A potential obstacle to my victory was removed before it became a problem. The fact that they were using civilians as shields meant nothing-"

Before the Jedi could even finish his statement Vader had activated his lightsaber with a savage _snap-hiss_ and was upon him. Vos's muscles bulged as he blocked the blow and desperately fought against the cyborg's crushing strength.

For his part Vader had entered an icy rage. He would crush this Jedi beneath his boot for his deeds, and take great pleasure in doing so. Those civilians would be avenged.

He sensed Vos gather the Force, and quickly jumped away to avoid a sharp rock that would have impaled him had he not moved. The Jedi entered the stance for his preferred form, while Vader assumed his own opening stance for his modified version of Djem So.

The Jedi for his part was surprised at the savage way he had attacked. Even though he had seen the Sith wipe out nearly his entire army he hadn't expected such anger behind that attack. "What does it matter to you anyway?" Vos asked. "Why would a Sith care what happens to random civilians? If anything I would expect the same thing from you, just without a justifiable reason."

For a moment Vader did not move, his breath giving Vos no indication what he was thinking. On the inside his fury grew even icier. This Jedi _dared_ to insinuate such things? Granted, he had done similar things before, but that was different. He had been consumed by darkness and not in his right mind. As it was now the cyborg would not consider harming civilians unless he had no other choice, and even then it was still doubtful.

"You will not have eyes," Vader finally said, his voice dangerously low. "You will not have ears, you will not have a tongue. I will burn off each of your fingers and toes, I will rend the flesh from your bones even as you scream and beg for death. I will desecrate your corpse until it is barely recognizable as human flesh. You will be remembered by no one. You will be erased, you will be _nothing_."

Vos glared as he tensed, ready for any sudden attack. "Big words, Sith. Let's see if you can back them up!"

With that he charged forward, his legs enhanced with the Force to propel the Jedi at inhuman speeds. Not to be outdone Vader charged forward as well, matching Vos's speed. He held his lightsaber over his head as the two combatants neared one another. As soon as Vos was in range Vader swung down with his crimson lightsaber, his superhuman strength causing the strike to crash down on the Kiffar's own upwards slash. The two blades, one red as blood and the other the blue of the Alderaan skies clashed.

For the first time in a millennium a Jedi engaged a Sith, this one a _true_ master of the Dark Side, in open combat.

And across the galaxy, the Dark Side reared its head and roared in triumph. It had found a new champion.

* * *

 _Jedi Temple, Coruscant_

On the city planet known as Coruscant there are literally millions of buildings, some reaching far into the atmosphere as if the planet had grown fingers of stone and steel and was attempting to link hands with the heavens. Within each of these buildings there are usually hundreds or even thousands of individual rooms that served various purposes, from fine dining to various… private activities. One of these rooms, along with select others, was used for meditation and contemplation. Within this room sat one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, a beacon of the light shining so brightly in the Force that if one were attuned to its sight they would be blinded. For a being of such power he was rather small and unassuming, but as the saying goes appearances can be deceiving. Usually when one looked upon this small being's green face that was weathered with age they would see a peaceful look, while his eyes shined with a twinkle of amusement and deeper understanding. Now however, that was not the case.

For the eyes of Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi Order, were wide with horror as he felt the Dark Side proclaim its hegemony once more.

Yet for all his paralysis and fear, yes, the Grand Master felt genuine _fear_ for perhaps the first time in centuries, he was not stopped from voicing one awestruck, wary thought.

"Returned, the Sith have."

* * *

 _Separatist Base, Ruusan_

Asher cursed as he leaned over his cover to fire a withering torrent of blue blaster fire at the Separatists. Things had been going just fine for the Republic forces up until now. At the start of the battle they had the advantage in nearly every single way. Larger numbers, air superiority, armor, better troops, excellent morale, they had all of it. Now? Now it had all gone down the drain.

Their force had been reduced to one tenth of its original fighting strength, nearly all of their fighters and gunships had been destroyed, and their morale had been shattered.

All by one man.

Even now it was incomprehensible to the clone captain. How, how could one man do all of this? Was this the power of the Force that the Jedi were constantly preaching about? Was this what that mystical energy field was capable of unleashing upon hapless Force blinds such as himself? The thought made Asher feel extremely insignificant for a moment.

Yet even as the feeling came the Republic trooper ruthlessly quashed it. Now was not the time for such things. He still had men who were depending on him for orders, and so long as a single one of them was alive he would fight like hell to make sure they made it home. That was what brothers did for each other after all.

He ducked back behind the rock outcropping that he and his squad were hiding behind to reload his blaster, his movements methodical and precise, not being weighed down by the enormous panic that was setting in on the clone. When the blaster chimed in readiness he aimed over the rock before firing an extremely accurate burst. Despite the situation Asher grinned savagely as he saw an organic soldier fall off the walls.

Return fire from the Confederates forced the clone back into cover, and as he hid the squad's communication officer scrambled over to the captain.

"Sir, report from all remaining squads, they confirm massive casualties across the front with multiple KIA. All remaining officers are requesting to retreat."

Asher's head snapped towards the man. Even though it was the only realistic option in this situation, to hear the words out loud still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Retreat. After a string of victories that was putting the Separatists on edge, the Republic would have to retreat.

Instead of responding the clone captain turned to look at the other man sitting next to him. The commander hadn't said a word since that… thing had entered the battle and proceeded to tear apart their forces. It was somewhat unsettling to see the man, no, more a boy than anything, who had been so cheerful not even a few hours ago now a nervous wreck.

"Commander Marek," Asher said, trying to get the Jedi's attention. There was no response. "Commander Marek, sir. What are your orders?"

Still Marek said nothing, opting to simply stare at the ground as he clutched his lightsaber in a death grip. Mentally Asher growled. They didn't have time for this.

"Sir!" he shouted, pushing the Jedi in the shoulder and causing the man to snap his head in his direction with his eyes wide. "What are your orders?"

For a moment Kento simply stared at him blankly before appearing to snap out of whatever trance he was in with a shake of his head. "R-right. How many troops are left?"

"150 sir, including all wounded."

Kento blanched, such casualty rates were horrifyingly above and beyond any normal bloodbath. More a massacre, though even that didn't seem to do justice to what had been done to their battalion. Nevertheless he composed himself to form a reply. "H-have the men fall b-back, tell the crews of the walkers to give covering fire before a-abandoning their vehicles and retreating as well. The rally point is the camp."

Asher nodded, but before he could reply one of the clones shouted out, " _Shit,_ we've got destroyers!"

The captain peeked over his rock, and true to the man's words dozens of Droidekas had poured out of the base's gates and deployed to lay down a wave of ruby blaster fire. Asher cursed vehemently as a bolt flew over his head, forcing the clone to duck back down. He turned to the communications officer to give out orders, but saw that he had been shot in the head.

Cursing once again, the clone activated his helmet's comm. and was greeted with a deafening cacophony of noise as multiple soldiers panicked over the channel. Grimacing at the disarray that had taken over his forces, Asher moved quickly to assert some form of control over the situation. "All remaining forces prepare to fall back to base, I repeat, all forces fall back to base. We cannot maintain this position. All walkers are to lay down suppressing fire to cover the infantry before abandoning their vehicles and falling back as well. Meanwhile all squads will commence a staggered retreat. Cover one another's backs, make sure they don't try to shoot us from behind. All forces acknowledge."

He received a chorus of shaken answers, but at least Asher had managed to restore a semblance of order to the Republic troops. Already he could see squads falling back with their wounded in hand while those that were able laid down cover fire for their comrades. Against the Droidekas it did little, but at least the Separatists seemed to be sticking close to the base.

Asher turned to Kento as his own squad was preparing to begin falling back. "Sir, it's time to go."

Kento nodded, and they were about to break cover when the Jedi remembered something. "Wait, what about Vos?"

Asher stopped for a moment before remembering the Kiffar. Personally he felt they should just leave the man to die, Jedi be damned. He hadn't exactly been a role model officer, and with the Jedi's recent orders to target civilians Asher was certain the troops' opinion of the man wasn't exactly high.

But in spite of that Asher answered anyway. "He is currently engaging the unknown sir. What do you want to do?"

Kento stopped for a moment as his subordinate's words registered. They both knew who Asher meant by "unknown", and frankly the young Jedi was terrified of the thought of even going near that thing. But, at the same time, a resolve seemed to settle within him. He had to know, he had to know just how his master, a man that before today he had held in great respect in spite of his flaws, could so easily order the slaughter of those civilians. Even if it meant facing a Sith lord.

"I have to find him," the padawan said, and without further elaboration he sprinted off towards where he could sense his master and the Sith fighting.

"W-what? Hey, wait!" Asher shouted, yet even as he did he knew it was futile. As the Jedi ran off the clone captain could feel eyes watching him, and he turned around to see his entire squad staring him down, their T-visors blank.

"What?" he asked in challenge, yet the troopers didn't relent in their stare causing Asher to sigh. Kento was well liked amongst the troops, his cheerful attitude and concern for the men under his command having quickly won over the clones. Asher knew that the thought of leaving him to go alone against that Sith made them sick.

Frankly, it made him sick too.

With a sight he activated his helmet's comm. even as the Droidekas poured out a withering a barrage. "I need a gunship, now."

* * *

With a roar red and blue blades clashed, and the two combatants found themselves in a deadlock. However, it was quickly proven whose strength was superior, as Vader soon had Vos down on one knee. Pressing his advantage, the Sith cyborg raised his lightsaber before bringing it down again in a brutal chop, nearly wrenching Vos's own saberstaff from his hands. Immediately after he flung the Jedi to the side with a powerful Force push, eliciting a grunt of pain from Vos as he got back up, his right eyebrow bleeding. Vader merely watched as the battered Kiffar got back to his feet.

"Your efforts are futile," Vader taunted as he assumed his modified stance of Djem So. "I have fought beings far more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Compared to them you aren't even a footnote."

That seemed to rile the Jedi master, as Vos growled before hurling a massive Force push at Vader. For his part the Sith lord scoffed.

With a wave of his hand Vader deflected the Force push, the only indication it was even there being the slight rustling of his black cape. His helmeted gaze settled on Vos, and the cyborg took savage satisfaction in the stunned look on the Jedi's face.

"Is that all?" he asked, getting no response from the wide-eyed Kiffar. If had been able Vader would have sighed. "If so, then it is pointless to continue."

With that he used the Force to grab Vos by the throat, and dragged the Jedi to float directly in front of him before applying pressure to windpipe. The man's eyes went wide and he began to gag as he clawed at his throat in a futile attempt to remove what was suffocating him. For his part Vader looked on dispassionately as he steadily increased the pressure to Vos's windpipe in a by now well-practiced routine.

"Your army is desolated and routed, your fleet is nowhere to assist you, even your own padawan is nowhere to be found. You have lost, Jedi."

Imagine Vader's surprise when Vos grinned smugly in response. "N-not q-quite."

The Sith was confused by what Vos meant, when suddenly he was slammed by a rock travelling at impressive speeds. With a grunt Vader was sent flying, skidding across the ground until coming to a stop.

 _How did I not sense them?_ He thought as he got back to his feet and turned to see a second Jedi standing off to the side, his palm outstretched and an ignited lightsaber blazing. Vader paused as he took in the Jedi's appearance. It was extremely familiar, yet for the life of him the black clad Sith could not place where he had seen this man before. And not just that, his Force signature, upon further observation almost felt like…

 _Impossible,_ he thought. _He is nowhere near Starkiller's level of power. At best he is as strong as a slightly above average Knight. Still the similarity is striking._

The familiar yet strange Jedi settled into a stance, and Vader's crimson lightsaber ignited with a blood thirsty _snap-hiss_ before he did the same. He was somewhat hesitant to fight the boy, as he could tell the padawan was conflicted about what Vos had done. Personally Vader had no quarrel with this familiar Jedi, but how he handled the boy went far beyond any personal reasons.

He had to maintain the façade of being a Sith. Now that he had clearly sided with the Separatists, it would only be a matter of time before Dooku and by extension Palpatine became aware of him. Vader knew that it would be a tough road getting them to accept him into their cause. And even then it was certain the two old men would never trust him. After all, Vader was directly challenging the Rule of Two simply by existing. Any indication of duplicity or hesitation on his part would cause the image to crumble.

The cyborg was brought out of his thoughts by Vos landing next to the second Jedi, his saberstaff back in hand. "Well done Kento," the Kiffar said. "With us working together we can defeat this Sith."

Vader held back a laugh. From what he had seen of Vos's abilities he highly doubted that. In fact, he was fairly certain he had more years of experience under his belt than either man before him had been alive. He paused as he realized how that sounded.

 _By the Force I'm old._

The Sith lord tensed as Vos prepared to jump at him, but both men were surprised when, instead of joining the Jedi master in attacking Vader, Kento stepped back from his fellow Jedi.

And pointed his lightsaber at him.

Vader's hairless eyebrows rose in surprise. What was this?

Vos was far less calm about the turn of events, his eyes going wide in surprise. "Kento! What are you doing?!"

The padawan, Kento (why was that name so familiar?), didn't waver as he stared down his… well, considering that the boy was pointing a lightsaber at Vos, Vader wasn't quite sure he was his master anymore. "I have a question for you first, and you're going to answer," Kento said firmly, impressing Vader with his resolve. "Why?"

Vos seemed confused, though for his part the Sith cyborg could see where Kento was going.

"What do you mean?" the Kiffar asked, baffled at his padawan's actions.

Kento's eyes narrowed as his fists began turning white. "Why did you order me to shoot down those transports? What could you have possibly accomplished from murdering innocent civilians? _Why did you make me kill them?!_ "

Vader watched as the two Jedi faced off, feeling sorry for the boy. It must have been hard, having the values you'd held practically your entire life being smashed in front of you in such a brutal fashion.

Vos sighed in an exasperated manner before replying. "Kento, we've been over this already. They were an unknown factor and I acted accordingly. If those were innocent civilians as you claim, then why were they in the middle of a battlefield that they could have easily avoided? Why would they head directly to a place where they knew there was a strong chance they would die? They were Separatist reinforcements Kento, hiding in a guise of innocence. Get over your delusions!"

Vader's eyes narrowed. Did this Jedi actually believe that? First off, where could the transports have even come from if they were Separatists? There were no other Confederates on the planet, this base was their only one. Also, if you were sending transports to reinforce a base under siege, wouldn't it make sense to provide them with protection instead of going in alone?

"And if they weren't?" Kento asked, his voice trembling as he barely maintained control. "If they weren't Separatists like you believe, what then?"

Vader prepared to jump in. He could feel the boy's anger welling up, like a raging storm waiting to be unleashed upon the world. And considering his attitude up to this point, if Vos sensed it then… well, suffice to say he wouldn't be so tolerating of Kento's presence.

The Sith cyborg knew he couldn't outright save the boy, that would raise unwanted questions, but he had a plan to make it look like he had tried to kill Kento. All Vos needed to do was strike…

Said Jedi rolled his eyes at his padawan's question. "Kento, really…"

"Don't you dare patronize me!" the familiar yet not familiar Jedi shouted, stunning Vos. "Answer the question," he said, his voice low.

The Kiffar narrowed his eyes at Kento, and Vader knew that he was beginning to sense the boy's anger. "If they weren't Confederates, which they were, well then that's war. People die in war boy, that's just how it is. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to achieve victory. It's unfortunate yes, but there's nothing you can do to change that."

Vader grimaced at the words. Vos wasn't exactly wrong; people, even civilians, died in war that was a fact. And everyone did have to sacrifice something at some point to win in war. But that didn't justify killing people that had no part in it. That was not the conduct of a soldier - that was just barbarism.

Kento's eyes were wide with shock. "H-how could you say that? That's not the Jedi way-"

"It also isn't the Jedi way to draw upon anger either, Kento," Vos interrupted, twirling his lightsaber.

The padawan spluttered. "What?"

Vos took an aggressive step forward, and Kento, sensing danger, began backing away. "Only Sith draw on anger, boy. Tell me, what were you going to do? Use the Dark Side to kill me before you joined up with Dooku and that thing over there?"

Vader tensed, preparing to jump in. He was surprised the two had forgotten about him until now. He wasn't exactly hard to notice. Oh well, it made things easier. Only a little further…

Kento looked surprised and rather panicked at the way his master was looking at him in a not so friendly manner. "What? N-no! I would never do that! I am a Jedi!"

Vos bared his teeth in a snarl. "Save it Dark Sider, you can't hide it from me. It seems I'll have to put you down. What a shame, you had such potential."

The Kiffar began to advance on Kento, who was backing away in fear while his hands trembled. Vos raised his saberstaff to strike, but before he could he encountered a small problem.

His right hand was missing.

Stunned at the sudden loss of his appendage and wanting so much to scream from pain the Jedi turned in Vader's direction, and the Sith lord smirked as his lightsaber returned to his hand. He was highly enjoying the look on the Jedi's face right now.

With a Force-enhanced leap the Sith cyborg was upon Vos, and began a brutal series of slashes and chops that forced the now one-armed Kiffar back. He swung downward in an attempt to bisect Vos, who desperately deflected with his saberstaff. The Jedi barely managed to do so, as the double-bladed weapon was meant to be wielded with two hands not one.

Vader pressed his assault, giving the Jedi no quarter. He feinted to the right, and when Vos took the bait the Sith shifted his red lightsaber and stabbed forward at his opponent's shoulder. Even though the Kiffar managed to avoid being stabbed, Vader's blade scored a gruesome gash on his upper arm.

Vos cried out in pain, no longer able to hold it in, and Vader relished it as he pressed his assault. Sith lightsabers were especially painful to be cut by due to their connection to the Dark Side, he had even heard stories of Sith sabers drawing blood instead of cauterizing the wound. While his own lightsaber could not do such a thing, it was still quite painful to be cut by.

He was brought out of his musings by a stab from Vos, and with ridiculous ease Vader knocked the saberstaff aside before savagely kneeing the Kiffar in the chest and sending him to the ground. Before Vos could get back up the Sith cyborg's foot was crushing down on his chest, eliciting a beautifully strangled gasp of pain from the Jedi.

"Do you see it now?" Vader asked as he steadily increased pressure on Vos's chest. "This is _true_ darkness. That drivel your council preaches the dangers of is nothing in comparison. They will never know, never know what it is like to be consumed in the endless abyss that is the Dark Side, they will never know what is like to have it whispering in your ear constantly. Your order is nothing more than a collection of sickly soft children, and I could crush you with a thought."

Vos gasped in pain as his ribs began to crack, but he still summoned the strength to speak. "Y-you will not win, Sit- Agh! The Jedi will a-always prevail, t-the l-l- _light_ will prevail!"

Vader cocked his head, amusement rolling off of him in waves. Inwardly he scoffed. Even now Vos refused to admit defeat. "Is that so?" he replied. "If that is true, then how is it I was able to defeat you so easily? How is it that your precious light has failed you so?"

Vos was about to retort, but another voice interrupted him. "Get off him, Sith."

Vader turned his head, and cocked an eyebrow as the padawan from earlier stood before him with his lightsaber at the ready. "And why should I, Jedi?"

"Because I am ordering you to," the boy retorted, and Vader was impressed by the fact that the Kento's voice did not tremble.

"Very well," the cyborg acquiesced, and Vader surprised Kento by actually stepping off of Vos.

Before promptly cutting off the Jedi master's head.

The padawan gasped in surprise as his former master's head rolled a few feet before coming to a stop, his surprised and pained expression clear for all to see.

"W-why did you do that?!" Kento half-shouted, though the Sith simply ignored him. As if he had to explain himself.

Though, judging from the boy's expression, he might have to do just that, if only to save himself the bother of the padawan's questions.

"Don't tell me you're actually shocked. He was an enemy commander, and I took an opportunity to weaken my opponent's chain of command. That's how war is. And besides, it's not like it wasn't satisfying for you."

Kento took a step back, his eyes wide. "What?"

Vader advanced forward in all his black and menacing glory, his lightsaber casting an unnatural red glow upon his form. "I could feel your anger, it rolls off of you in waves. It does not take a master of the Force to know you wanted him to die."

"N-no," Kento whispered, as if trying to reassure himself instead of actually denying anything. "I am a Jedi, we do not feel anger or hate."

This time Vader did openly scoff. "You cannot profess to be free of anger just as I cannot claim I am not a human. Anger is an innate emotion that lies within all creatures, whether we like it or not. To deny that you feel anger is to deny a piece of your humanity."

Vader now seemed to loom over Kento, and the Sith cyborg noted the boy looked ready to collapse. It reminded him of another boy, one that had looked at him with the same fear in his eyes.

It reminded the cyborg of Starkiller, and for the life of him Vader could not place the connection that his former apprentice and this Jedi padawan undoubtedly shared. It unnerved him.

 _Just who are you, little Jedi?_

Before Vader could continue on his train of thought the Force cried out to him in warning, and he and Kento jumped away from each other just in time to avoid a pair of missiles slamming into the ground.

Vader looked in the direction of the missiles, and to his surprise saw a Republic gunship flying towards them. One of the ships had actually managed to survive?

The heavily armed transport interposed itself between Vader and the Jedi, and within a flash the Sith's lightsaber was weaving through a dazzling pattern as it deflected the precise shots from the clone troopers in the gunship's troop bay.

He noticed a clone officer lean out the other side of the gunship and hold out a hand to Kento, and with little hesitation the boy took it and was hauled in.

As soon as the Jedi padawan had stepped in the gunship roared off as fast as it could to outrun the Sith on the ground. For his part Vader looked on before reaching out with his hand and calling upon the Force. Did they think to escape him so easily?

The LAAT, which had been speeding away, was now stopped in mid-air, its engines straining to escape an unseen force. But it was for naught, as the tools of man were specks to the Force.

Vader smiled smugly as he felt the panic of the clones and one Jedi aboard, their realization of one undeniable fact.

Escape from him was simply impossible.

But then, just as it seemed that he would have them, Vader let go of the gunship which immediately began to speed away. He sensed their confusion and relief, he knew they couldn't believe they were actually going to live.

He knew that releasing the Jedi, even after the show he had put on, would raise questions in the boy's mind, but it mattered not. He had put up a good enough performance.

And besides, the Sith cyborg knew that this would not be their last encounter, the Force seemed to swirl around the boy with certainty and purpose.

 _We will meet again, padawan Kento._

Vader turned as he felt a presence approach, and was greeted by the sight of a nemoidian wearing the livery of a confederate officer flanked by two B2 battle droids.

"You are the commander, I presume?" he asked, his baritone voice seeming to echo in the now empty battlefield. The last of the Republic forces had already left.

The separatist answered with a nod. "Yes, I am. I must thank you for saving us," he replied, before looking over to Vos's body with disgust. "And also for avenging those civilians. Damned Republic."

There was silence for a moment before the separatist commander asked, "So, what will you do now?"

Vader scrutinized the nemoidian for a moment. Unlike most of his species Vader could see a hardened look in the alien's eyes, the look of a soldier and a veteran. He could also see uncertainty, but then that was justified. After all, his answer could very well doom all of the remaining C.I.S. forces on this planet. But he had no intention of doing that.

"Originally I had planned on simply finding a ship and leaving the planet," Vader answered. "Now however, it would be in both our interests if we worked together, seeing as I have made myself an enemy of the Republic and your forces are already depleted."

The nemoidian visibly sagged in relief before looking to the cyborg with a small smile. "I see, that is quite the relief…"

Hearing the unasked question, Vader quickly replied. "My name is Darth Vader, though just Vader will suffice. And before you ask, I am not a Jedi."

The nemoidian's face betrayed his surprise, but Vader was intrigued when he saw a look of recognition as well. "Darth? Like the Sith of old?"

The cyborg's eyes widened in surprise. He knew? For a moment he was thankful for the mask as it prevented the separatist from seeing the stunned look on his face. "You know what the title is?" he asked.

The nemoidian nodded, looking once again uneasy. "Yes, I studied the history of the Sith when I was younger, it has always intrigued me. I won't judge you based on it," he said the last sentence in a rush.

Vader stared at the nemoidian, reading him through the Force. After a moment he nodded to himself. "Very well, I will trust you on this, though I'm afraid I don't know your name."

For the second time the nemoidian looked relieved before remembering himself. "Ah yes, where are my manners? I am Colonel Rune Gunray, commandant of the Confederate base on the planet of Ruusan."

Vader raised a hairless eyebrow in surprise. Gunray? Did that mean…

"Shall we continue this inside, Lord Vader?" the now named Rune asked. "I don't want to keep my officers waiting much longer. I'm sure they're getting anxious."

Vader nodded, ignoring both the man's name and his attachment of Lord. "Yes, lead the way colonel," he replied as they began walking back to the base, the B2s falling into step behind them. "And kindly tell the snipers that you have watching us to stop aiming at me."

Rune chuckled, visibly more at ease with Vader now that introductions were out of the way. "Of course, of course. Can you blame me though? One can't be too careful these days."

The Sith lord nodded in agreement, his breathing echoing out. The group of one organic, one cyborg, and two battle droids continued on to the base in silence. Even in the silence, the organic and cyborg both knew one thing.

The war had changed, irreversibly.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars

Chapter 4: The Triumvirate

 _Ten Days after the battle at Ruusan_

Whereas the Senate Building on Coruscant was a massive, sprawling mushroom-shaped building which soared above the heads of those who gazed upon it, the Confederate Parliament Building on Raxus Secundus was a more modest affair. While by no means small, it was nowhere near as tall as its counterpart on Coruscant, and was built using neo-classical architecture to make the building seem more welcoming.

On the outside its gleaming white front seemed to shine in the sunlight while Greco-Roman columns stood proudly at the center of the building, supporting the roof that extended over the main entrance. A of set mechanical wooden doors provided entrance, while stoic faced Confederate Citizen Guards in crisp red uniforms with gold trimmings and epaulets stood watch with the assistance of B2 battle droids.

The inside of the building that quite a few had come to associate with freedom from Republican tyranny was just as grand as the outside. Marble floors, walls and vaulted ceilings encompassed a controlled chaos as Confederate MPs, aids, dignitaries and anyone else who had business in the Confederacy's center of government scurried about to complete their tasks, all the while under the watch of even more Citizen Guards.

Down the various hallways that ran through the building visitors could look to the side to see paintings dedicated to important moments within the fledgling government or simple works that artists had created to commemorate the Confederacy itself. Also in the main lobby of the building one could see the documents that formed the basis of the government, such as the Raxus Address and the By-Laws of Independent Systems which were available for all to see and admire, though not touch.

None of this mattered at the moment however. For far more important events were in motion than the admirations of Confederate citizens. In the Parliament Chamber, which was guarded by only the most loyal and dedicated of the Citizen Guards, a matter of grave import was in debate, and the outcome could very well shape the course of the war and galactic history.

They were discussing the fate of one Darth Vader, and just what in the Nine Hells they were going to do with him.

"Members of this most august assembly," one MP spoke, his voice echoing across the chamber, which was much smaller than the Senate Chamber on Coruscant. "We face before us a matter that bears great consideration, as it affects not only our noble military forces but also the entire citizenry of the C.I.S. You all know what I refer to. The individual known as Darth Vader, who selflessly saved the Confederate garrison on Ruusan and subsequently aided in the breaking of the Republic blockade, now requests asylum within our nation as well as permission to conduct military campaigns in the name of this parliament and the Confederacy. In the name of the Confederate member world of Palau, I ask that the right honorable head of state open the floor for debate on the issue."

With that the MP sat down, and as he did Count Dooku, known secretly as Darth Tyranus, stood from his seat at the head of the assembly. In a rare event he was attending a senatorial session in person, reflecting the importance of the matter at hand.

Inwardly Dooku was grimacing. While he may have been a noble from Serenno and was raised to speak in such a manner when at events such as this, all the political talk was wearing on him somewhat. He understood that embellished language could serve a purpose, but he had his limits.

But, these beings had all made their careers in the political field, with many of them being former Republic Senators. Even if they were leading a war of independence against said Republic, they still carried on mannerisms from the Senate Building.

"As head of state of the C.I.S. I now declare the floor open for debate on the matter. The debate may proceed."

And with that, the Serenno noble sat back and watched as the debate began. It was a foregone conclusion really, the debate before the vote was just a formality. Already over half the senators were prepared to vote in Vader's favor, and while there were those who believed that this mysterious cyborg should be investigated beforehand there weren't enough of them to make a difference. While normally a proper investigation would have been made into Vader's background, which Dooku admitted had even him intrigued, the Parliament was willing to forego that for one simple reason.

Darth Vader was a Force Sensitive, and a powerful one at that if the reports from the Ruusan garrison were to be believed. And the Confederacy needed every advantage it could get to fight the Jedi.

Still, in spite of the fact that this new Sith, for what else could he be with the way the Dark Side shrouded him like a never-ending cloak, would prove useful as an ally, Dooku was concerned. He had yet to hear from his master Sidious, and in lieu of the Dark Lord's instructions on the matter Tyranus was forced to use his own judgment in dealing with Vader. While he was perfectly capable of making independent decisions without Sidious guiding him, in this instance Dooku would have preferred his master to take the lead; after all, the decision made in this hall today could either lay the foundations for Sith victory or result in the destruction of the Line of Bane.

Vader was a wild card, something that Dooku and Sidious had not counted on entering the war. They had known of various Dark Side sects spread throughout the galaxy such as the Nightsisters or the Prophets of the Dark Side, but they had been inconsequential at best. The Nightsisters barely qualified as Dark Jedi, and even if the Prophets had been more powerful they kept to themselves on that backwater Dromund Kaas. Even Asajj Ventress, for all her skill, was merely a pawn in the Sith's game, a warrior taught how to wield a lightsaber and basic Force abilities in order to keep the Jedi distracted from the true threat which lurked in the shadows.

Vader was not only skilled with a lightsaber, he was also a master of the Dark Side. Dooku could feel it when he had first read the cyborg's signature. In Darth Vader was a being who had dedicated his life to learning the ways of the Force and all its intricacies; he knew that it applied to more than just mere physical combat, the Force was everything. It could create worlds, galaxies, _life_. It could also snuff them out in the blink of an eye. If Dooku's intuition was correct, then Vader not only understood this aspect of the Force, but he could apply it in practice as well. And an enemy who could use the Force in such a way was one the Line of Bane could not afford.

However, even if Vader did end up becoming an ally, it still begged the question. Where had he come from, and could this new Sith Lord be trusted not to betray them?

It disturbed the Count to no end that he did not have an answer.

* * *

The mood in the Council Room in the highest spire of the Jedi temple was grim as they watched the footage of Darth Vader in action. Somehow Republic intelligence had recovered footage from the helmet cameras of the clone troops that had fought the Sith. It was disconcerting, to say the least. The sheer power the cyborg wielded was phenomenal, as though the Dark Side itself had been given physical form and was unleashed upon the world.

The recording ended with the image of Vader cutting off the head of the trooper that the camera had belonged to, Light flooded into the chamber as the blinds receded from the windows, revealing the grim faces of the Jedi Council.

"Disturbing this is," Jedi Master Yoda said from his seat in the middle. "This Sith, strong in the Dark Side of the Force he is."

"Indeed," Adi Gallia replied. "Such mastery over the Force could only be achieved through a lifetime of training. He is easily as strong as any being in this room, perhaps even as powerful as you Master Yoda."

Many of the Jedi visibly paled. The idea of a Sith as strong as Yoda appearing in the middle of the war was a horrifying thought.

"What concerns me," Obi-wan Kenobi, newest member of the Council said. "Is the actions of Quinlan Vos in regards to the civilian transports. Is it possible the Sith influenced him to commit this act?"

"While Vos's actions are concerning, I do not believe he was under the influence of this Sith warrior," Kit Fisto countered. "But that begs the question, if he wasn't under Sith influence, then why did Vos order those civilians killed?"

The rest of the Council paused. Indeed, what motivation could a Jedi Master have had to order such a wanton act of destruction? "A dangerous seductress the Dark Side is," Yoda began wearily. "Possible it is that he fell to the song of evil it played."

Many Jedi visibly became uncomfortable at the mention of the 'song'. But then, they had every reason to, Yoda reflected. For three days and three nights the entire Jedi Order had been forced to listen to the war march of the Dark Side, with its insidious winds and strings and percussion and vocal ensemble crafting a horrible amalgamation of death and dark, terrifying power. Such an incident had only occurred a handful of times in the history of the Jedi Order. Each time it had happened the Sith had returned in strength, and each time the Jedi had been driven to the brink of extinction. Was such a thing happening again? Were the Sith reemerging from a thousand year long period of slumber to reek vengeance upon the Jedi and Republic?

However, Yoda noted, the Dark Side's symphony was not the only song that had been orchestrated. Only he had felt the Light listen to the Dark, and then not only had it resisted the poisonous notes, but the Light Side of the Force had _responded_. Never before had such a thing been recorded. The fact that the Light had replied to the Dark at all was astonishing, but what it had said was simply mind-boggling.

The Light Side of the Force, bulwark against all the Darkness that threatened the galaxy, had replied not in challenge to the Dark side, but in agreement. In the briefest of instances the Light had acknowledged the hegemony of the Dark and accepted it before breaking off in a series of soft melodies and sonnets that had led Yoda astray and left him in shock.

The Light Side had… had pushed him _away_. He had asked it for guidance and it had refused him. Yoda did not know what to do. The Light Side had always been there to guide and comfort the Jedi master, and now it spurned him as if he were some taint of the Dark Side. It was confusing and, he admitted within the deepest, darkest corners of his mind, terrifying. Just what was happening within the Force?

He had told none of his fellow Jedi. Something compelled him to keep silent on the matter, and frankly he did not know what sort of reaction this latest development would garner from his fellows. For now, Yoda would reveal none of what he had felt.

The little Jedi was brought out of his thoughts by Mace's voice. "This has been a disaster for public relations. On the streets people continue to demand an explanation for Vos's actions, and a few have even begun to question whether or not the Jedi should be allowed to lead the army."

Many of the Council members, including Yoda, grimaced. The public opinion of the Order had taken a severe hit from the Ruusan Massacre as many had taken to calling it. And worse, the Order simply couldn't provide an explanation for what one of its masters had done, and for the masses that simply would not do.

"What of the Chancellor?" Obi-wan asked. "What's the word on him?"

"Refuse to intervene he does," Yoda replied. "Understandable it is, demanded an explanation as well he has for the actions of Quinlan Vos."

"Well we can't just say nothing," Kit Fisto interjected. "If we stay silent people could very well interpret that to mean that we don't disapprove of what happened."

"What would you have us say then?" Mace retorted as he leaned forward.

"I say that while we cannot give an explanation on Vos's actions, one that won't satisfy the people anyway, we can still condemn what he did. This way people will know we don't approve this sort of thing and that it isn't likely to happen again." Obi-wan supplied, stroking his beard.

"And what of Vos's apprentice, Kento Marek?" Master Ki-Adi Mundi asked. "Do we place the blame on him as well? He has admitted to accepting his master's orders, though that isn't public knowledge yet."

Yoda shook his head, placing himself back in the conversation. "No actions shall we take against Padawan Kento. Ashamed and regretful he is, and believe that he would have followed his master's orders willingly I do not. In fact, Knighted, I believe he should be, forgoing the Trials."

The gathered masters looked curious at Yoda's announcement. Ki Adi Mundi spoke up. "And why do you think so Master Yoda?"

"Faced far worse than the trials he did on Ruusan, when facing the Sith. Resisted the temptation of the Dark Side he also has. Faced its power and fury Kento Marek did, and he stood strong. A Knight, he is ready to be."

Mace nodded in acceptance of Yoda's explanation. He had been thinking of making the suggestion himself. The Jedi Order needed all the Knights it could get. "Very well, all in favor of granting Knighthood to the padawan Kento Marek?"

All of the hands in the room went up, and the dark skinned Jedi nodded. "It is settled then, Kento Marek shall be granted Knighthood. I believe that is all for today."

"Then adjourned this Council is," Yoda said as he stood along with the rest of the masters. "May the Force be with us all."

* * *

 _Pain._

 _That was what his world had become. His body was broken, beaten into the dust by the merciless Sith lord known as Darth Vader. Really it had been the only realistic outcome, but the fact that he, a Jedi Knight, had lost so completely and utterly only reinforced the hopelessness of the situation. Now there was one less Jedi to fight against the Empire._

 _The Jedi cried out in pain as the Sith cyborg lifted him by the neck in an unbreakable Force grip and began applying pressure. It was all he could do to not shudder as he looked into those soulless, reflective lenses. What sort of evil was capable of spawning such a creature?_

" _I sense someone far more powerful nearby," Vader stated before raising his lightsaber. "Where is your master?"_

 _Inwardly the Jedi was screaming from pain, but he endured. He could not allow this Sith to know what he was hiding. "The Dark Side has clouded your mind. You killed my master years ago."_

 _Appearing enraged at the half-lie, Vader prepared to strike. "And now you shall share his fate!"_

 _However, before the Sith could deal the final blow his lightsaber was wrenched from his hand with the Force, and the Jedi could only look on in horror as it flew into the tiny hands of a toddler, his face a mixture of fear and confusion._

No, _he thought, his hopelessness and despair consuming him completely as Darth Vader turned his masked gaze to the boy._

" _A son?" the Dark Lord asked, having not expected such a powerful Force signature from a mere child._

" _RUN!" he screamed, knowing even as he did so there was no chance of the boy escaping._

 _At that moment Vader decided he was done with the Jedi, and swiftly snapped his neck with the Force. Tears fell down the boy's cheeks, and he was certain he felt himself crying as he fell._

Mallie, forgive me, _he thought, before his world faded to nothingness._

Kento Marek shot up from his bed covered in sweat, gasping desperately for air as he recalled what he had just seen. Was it just a dream? No, it had felt too real to be a simple dream. A vision perhaps, of things yet to come? He shuddered at that thought. The young Jedi did not want to die like that, especially at the hands of something like Vader.

 _Calm down Kento_ , he thought to himself. _That was only a possibility. The future is always in motion._

Kento's breathing evened out as he remembered Master Yoda's words, and with a final calming breath he threw the sheets off his body and walked to the refresher. After splashing his face with water the Jedi looked in the mirror and took in his appearance.

His face appeared more sunken than usual, he had bags under his eyes, and said eyes were somewhat bloodshot. In all, Kento looked terrible.

Then again, five nights filled with restless sleep would do that to anyone. He ran his hand over his face as he recalled his dreams, no, nightmares would be more appropriate. They were really a mish mash of various things. Some times Kento would dream of doing everyday activities around the temple, though something about those instances seemed off, as if he hadn't done them yet. Other times he saw himself with a woman on a lush forest world which reminded him of Kashyyyk, with both of them smiling down at a child in the woman's arms. For some reason, these particular parts of his dreams made the young Jedi especially happy.

Then there were the dark parts to his nightmares.

Sometimes, Kento would be surrounded by the bodies of his fellow Jedi (he had even seen the temple being burned!), others, the woman would be dead or dying in his arms, and for some reason he was filled with sadness and despair beyond his wildest imagination whenever he saw that.

But the worst part of them all, and the one thing that seemed to recur the most, was Vader. Everything went back to Vader. Sometimes Kento dreamed of his fight with the Sith on Ruusan, but most of the time when he saw Vader it was on the forest world, and they were always locked in fierce combat with Kento always loosing.

But tonight was the first time he had seen himself _die._

This latest vision left Kento unsettled. It had simply been too clear, too raw, to be a mere dream. Even remembering Master Yoda's lessons on Force visions, for what else could these be, Kento could not help but feel that he had seen his death as it would actually happen. And that terrified him.

Shaking his head Kento tried to calm himself by repeating the Jedi Code, especially the stanza about fear. It was of little comfort.

Splashing more water on his face, Kento returned to his bed to try and get back to sleep, but it eluded him. Instead he found his thoughts continuing to drift towards recent events, and the instigator of them all. Vader.

It was common knowledge that the Sith lord had the Council figuratively soiling themselves, as it was believed that the Sith had been extinct for a thousand years or were, at the very least, severely weakened.

But it was not so. Not only did the Sith unquestionably survive, even if it was in the form of one being, but the Jedi's ancient enemy was as strong as ever. And he was out for blood.

That was beyond doubt, especially with the discovery that had been made at the front gate yesterday. Quinlan Vos's corpse had been nailed above the main entrance to the temple, well corpse wasn't an apt way to describe it. More the meat sack that had been Quinlan Vos had been found at the Temple's main entrance. Kento didn't know what he found more disturbing, what had been done to his former master or the fact that someone was able to walk up to the Temple, nail the body above the bloody _front door_ , and walk away without a worry.

As expected morale in the temple had been shaken, and many Jedi looked over their shoulders as they walked down the halls that no longer seemed as safe as they once were. Kento couldn't help but snort.

 _He's only killed one Jedi so far and already half the Order flinches when you just mention the name Vader. If things keep on like this we'll lose the war from lack of morale alone!_

It wasn't that he didn't fear Vader, no the exact opposite was true, but that didn't stop Kento from feeling the Order's reaction was a tad bit childish. Honestly, the Jedi were wasting their time soiling themselves when they could be working together to solve the problem at hand. Even if he was insanely powerful, Vader couldn't defeat the might of the entire Jedi Order alone. Right?

But then, he had no trouble killing more than one thousand clone troopers Kento thought with a grimace. Asher was still shaken by that, but then he had every right to be. Unlike the Jedi, who had lost one master to Vader, Asher had been forced to watch his entire battalion be slaughtered. They had managed to keep in touch, which wasn't that hard since the remainder of the Fourth had been recalled to Coruscant so command could decide what to do with what was left.

What had been done to the battalion, to those men that Kento had come to respect and form friendships with, he didn't like how it made him feel. It made him feel almost… angry. He furrowed his brow at the resurging emotion, reciting the Jedi Code once again to calm himself. There is no emotion, there is peace.

" _You cannot profess to be free of anger just as I cannot claim I am not a human. Anger is an innate emotion that lies within all creatures, whether we like it or not. To deny that you feel anger is to deny a piece of your humanity."_

The young man's eyes widened at the unbidden memory. That was another thing that had been bothering him over the past few days. No matter how much Kento tried, no matter much he meditated or practiced his lightsaber forms, he simply could not block out the Sith's words. They pervaded his thoughts in nearly every waking moment, and it frustrated Kento to no end.

But what was worst of all, was that the more he thought about the Sith lord's words, the harder it was to dismiss them as wrong. They were bound in simple yet unbreakable logic, and what's more Kento's own experience on Ruusan seemed to vindicate the Sith. He remembered his anger, how it had driven him to confront his master and raise his lightsaber against him. And yet, even though he had indulged in that forbidden yet addicting emotion, Kento had not turned. According to the Code by all rights he should have been enveloped in the Dark Side, yet he wasn't. He had remained firmly in the light. It went against everything Kento had been taught about emotions such as anger and passion, and it left him confused.

Of course, he could have gone to a master such as Yoda and confided in them, but something held Kento back from doing so. Upon further observation, he realized that what held him back from going to a master about this was how his own master Vos had reacted. If his own master, whom he had been apprenticed to for years and had spent countless hours with had attempted to kill him, how would another master, say, Yoda, react?

Of course he knew the idea of one of the other masters trying to kill him was ludicrous, as he remembered how kind and helpful they had been to him as a child and still were even now. But all the same, subconsciously he feared a repeat of what happened with Vos and thus a sense of almost mistrust had been planted in him in regards to his fellow Jedi.

The young Jedi groaned, flipping over in his bed and resolving to get some sleep for the night. It was best to just stop thinking about this and not worry about it.

He never did.

* * *

The next day while Kento trudged on having gotten barely any sleep, Asher was sitting in the officer's lounge at one of the army bases located close to the Jedi temple nursing a drink. There had been nothing for him to do over the past week as command had told him that they were still trying to decide what to do with what was left of the Fourth. As the highest ranked officer left in the battalion he had become its de facto commander until it was either reorganized or broken up. The latter was looking more likely.

On some level he felt it just wasn't fair. The Fourth Battalion had one of the best track records in the army so far. They'd seen combat on Geonosis, Munnilist, Rhen Var, and had performed exceptionally on every count. Hell, out of the 101st brigade their battalion had the most commendations, with five Crosses of Glory even. And now, they were just going to be broken up and divided among other units.

But then again, he supposed, it was understandable. After all, for all its accomplishments, the Fourth Battalion wasn't exactly useful anymore with most of it having been slaughtered by that Sith. Asher grimaced. He'd had quite a few nightmares involving the cyborg, many of them unpleasant to say the least. Sometimes he'd even dreamed that he'd died. Those nights had been particularly bad, involving quite a bit of screaming according to his bunkmates and subsequent vomiting in the refresher.

Still, something nagged at him. Asher remembered when they had been flying away in the gunship that the cyborg had used the Force to grab on to the aircraft and keep it from leaving. He, Kento and his men had been certain they were going to be taken prisoner or more likely killed, but almost as soon as the ship had been grabbed it was released and quickly sped off. However, while he was relieved to not be a prisoner of the Confederates, something seemed off to Asher about the whole thing. It was almost as if…

 _It's as if he let us get away,_ he thought with a furrowed brow. _But why?_

Indeed, what purpose could letting them go serve? Was Vader being merciful? Was it pity? Or did this somehow fit into some larger plan?

Asher shook his head as he took a swig of his Corellian brandy. There was no point in dwelling on why. He was just glad to be alive.

The clone captain noticed another trooper sitting next to him, an ARC judging from the armor. The man seemed familiar, as if he had seen him before…

"Mereel?" he asked in surprise. What was one of the notorious Nulls, and more specifically one of his friends from training, doing here?

The Null turned toward him and gave one of his infamous smiles that promised mischief and general headaches for all involved. "Well, I'll be damned, it's you! How have you been Asher?"

"Alright, all things considered," he replied swishing his drink.

Mereel immediately sobered up at that and put a hand on the captain's shoulder. "I'm sorry about what happened. _Buir_ and the rest of the _vode_ send their love."

Asher nodded. "Tell them I said thanks."

The ARC nodded before immediately smiling again, wrapping his arm around Asher's shoulder. "But at least you're alive. And all things considered, I think that deserves a drink."

The clone shook his head. Mereel never could remain serious for long if it didn't involve combat or intelligence gathering. Then again, it was hard to imagine Mereel as anything but playful. "They just got a shipment of Corellian brandy. High end stuff."

Mereel grinned like a kid in a candy store before waving down the bartender and ordering some of the brandy. Once he had his drink he raised it to Asher. "To the Fourth," he said with a sad smile.

Asher blinked before he smiled and raised his glass as well. Mereel had always spent time with their battalion, even when they were all still children. "To the Fourth," he replied before they clinked glasses.

After taking a swig of their drinks both men sat in a companionable silence as they remembered all the times they had with the men of the battalion. Both ignored the sting that came with the knowledge that they would never laugh with those men again.

Eventually Asher turned back to Mereel. "Alright, so why are you really here? ARCs rarely just pass through."

The Null sighed as he took another sip of his drink. "Stang, and I thought I'd be able to enjoy this drink for a little longer. Actually, I'm here to deliver orders. Your orders, to be precise."

Asher cocked his eyebrow. "First, since when did Nulls act as delivery boys? And second, just what are these orders?"

Mereel smirked. "In answer to your questions, Kal's got friends in high places and made sure I would give them to you personally. As for the second, see for yourself."

With that the ARC slid a datapad over to Asher who picked it up and read through. By the end his eyes were wide with shock. "Are you serious?"

Mereel nodded. "Yeah, straight from command. You're being promoted to full Commander, being given command of the entire 10th division, and the Fourth's being reconstructed with the newest arrivals to serve as the command battalion. They're even letting you get first pick on who gets put in the battalion."

"That's… wow. I could understand reconstructing the battalion for morale purposes, but why the promotion? That puts me in charge of the whole division!"

Mereel took another sip of his drink. "The way command sees it, since the 10th's last Commander was killed on Ruusan and you're the highest ranking officer in the whole army that has experience with Vader, they want you in charge of as many assets as possible for when he pops up again."

Asher grimaced. "So we're going to be the cannon fodder that gets thrown at a Sith, is what you're saying."

The Null shook his head. "No, the division won't be degraded to some hunter unit that would be a waste. You'll still operate within the regular fleet, it's just that whenever this Vader pops up the 10th will be one of the first units on call to go after him."

Asher looked back down to the datapad. "It says here the division's being based out of three _Acclamator-IIs_ for now on. Makes sense if we're going to be some anti-Sith task force."

Mereel pushed his now empty glass away and was looking at Asher. "There's something else."

Asher looked over in interest as Mereel leaned forward. "What is it?"

"Apparently, the Jedi Council's in a panic over this whole thing, and when they heard about the division's new assignment they butted in and pulled some major strings. There's going to be three Jedi in command of the whole thing."

Asher cocked his eyebrow as he sipped his drink. "Really? Who are they?"

"That's the thing, while one of the assignments is nonnegotiable (and secret) the Council and command decided that you'd be the one to pick who the other two are."

The clone couldn't have spit his drink out faster. "What?" he asked in between his coughs.

Mereel shrugged. "Highest ranking officer alive that has experience with Vader, remember?"

Asher sighed as he took another swig, this one emptying his glass. "I hate all this attention already."

The ARC clapped him on the shoulder. "And now you see why I like being an ARC. We don't have to worry about all this _osik_. Though the pay could be better."

"We don't get paid," Asher deadpanned.

"Exactly!" Mereel replied with a grin, causing both men to laugh. Once the laughter died down Asher turned back to his friend. "So how long do I have to pick?"

Mereel shrugged as he got up. "Dunno, whenever the 101st and the rest of the division are assembled and ready to move out I think. They weren't real specific on a time limit."

Asher sighed. "Since when are Jedi ever specific?"

The Null ARC chuckled as he took the datapad. "True, true. Well, you take it easy, I've got to report to Zey for my next assignment. Give my regards to the rest of the Fourth eh?"

Asher gave a casual salute as Mereel walked out of the lounge. When he was gone the now Commander took out his comm. and activated it. Mereel had said he had to pick two of the Jedi who would command the division, and while he didn't know who the other would be his mind was already made up for the first choice. There was really no other Jedi the men would accept.

"I'd like to speak to Kento Marek please."

* * *

It is often said that the actions of a single being can change the course of the entire galaxy, that a single stroke of a sword or stylus can bring prosperous peace or send the galaxy spiraling into all-consuming war. Indeed, it was by the plans of one man that the current state of affairs had been reached. One thousand years ago Darth Bane had set the foundation for the return of the Sith and the destruction of the Jedi and their Republic. Soon, so soon those plans which had driven an entire Sith dynasty would be fulfilled, and at last they would rule the galaxy once more as was their right. It was enough to make his eyes twinkle in anticipation.

But now those plans were threatened, by one of their own no less.

Alone in his office Chancellor Palpatine, or Darth Sidious, scowled as he sank into the Force. The appearance of this Darth Vader had been unexpected, and the power he wielded even more so. How could such a being have remained hidden until now? How could the line of Bane have missed this other Sith dynasty for so long?

His scowl deepened even further when the Dark Side slinked away from him, as if it were trying to hide something. The insolent wretch! He was its master, and it would obey!

He grabbed the Dark Side by the throat and forced it to his will. It resisted, but it was in vain, and soon a cloak of darkness settled upon the native of Naboo as the Dark Side submitted to his will.

This was another thing that troubled him. Ever since the appearance of this new Sith lord the Force had been… strange. Normally when he called it would answer instantly, but now it seemed as if the Force was reluctant to come to him. It wasn't so much that he could not access its power, rather it was trying to prevent him from seeing something important. He didn't like it, not one bit. The foresight that he had developed over the years as a Sith had become instrumental to him, and to have it hampered (by the Force itself no less!) was disturbing to Sidious.

Once again he tried to use said foresight, and once again it was muddied and clouded. No image could be made out, no future ascertained from the endless quagmire. With a growl of frustration Sidious gave up and gathered the darkness closer to him like a soothing balm.

What could this mean? Why was the Force resisting him so? Did the Dark Side no longer acknowledge him in some way? Had the appearance of this new Sith lord led the dark powers to seek a new master? Well he would not have it. He was the only one worthy of leading the Sith to glory.

Darth Vader would have to be eliminated, that was certain, but how? He could not just kill him, the usurper had thrown in his lot with the Separatists, and to suddenly do away with him would raise… questions. Questions which he did not want being asked. No, to rid himself of Vader Sidious would have to rely on subtlety and patience.

Perhaps he could be put to use instead? Recently Sidious had found that the commanders of the Separatists were proving to be quite lacking in their abilities to deal with the Jedi. Ventress and Durge had as of late provided him with nothing but failures, and Dooku and Grievous, skilled as they were, were only two beings who could not be everywhere at once. A new champion of the droid armies was needed, one who would be able to distract the Jedi while he worked in the shadows to insure ultimate Sith victory.

Yes, that could work. He would use Vader to give the Jedi an enemy to focus on. In all of their single mindedness they would be blind to all else in their efforts to destroy the only threat they could see. And when the time was right, he would take the knife and go for the jugular. A wicked grin formed on the Sidious' face. It was _perfect._ He did not need to fight all of his enemies at once, he would simply let them destroy each other before going in for the _coup de grace_.

But first, a test was in order to verify his new pawn's loyalty. Darth Vader claimed to be a Sith, well, Sidious would put that to task. If he was truly a Sith lord, then he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He would see just how far Vader was willing to go. If he proved lacking, then the Dark Lord was certain in his abilities to put the Sith cyborg down.

But how to administer this test? Just what would he have Vader do to prove his worth? No simple act of barbarism would suffice. The Sith's calling was war, it flowed through their very veins and made their blood boil. It would have to be something so horrendous, so terrible that only a true Sith lord would be willing to do if it meant achieving their goal.

Sidious paused as his eyes landed on a painting of Naboo that was sitting on his office wall, and his smile was of the most sinister quality as his eyes glittered with unbridled sadism and malice. He knew _exactly_ how to test Vader, and there would be no doubt on his course of action based on the results.

Either Vader would prove his worth as a Sith, or he would die.

Nodding to himself as he solidified his plan, Sidious locked his office and activated a special comm. system built into his desk as he donned his black robe and pulled up the hood. A few seconds later, the image of Count Dooku was kneeling before him.

"My master," the Serenno noble said in greeting. "I had begun to fear that you would not contact me."

He waved his hand dismissively at his pawn. "I was delayed Lord Tyranus. I trust you know of what I wish to speak?"

The Sith nodded. "Yes. Darth Vader is truly an enigma. He is a grave threat to our plans."

"Yes," Sidious drawled. "But at the same time, he could be a useful asset. A way to distract the Jedi."

Dooku's brow furrowed. "My Lord?"

"The Dark Side of the Force is strong with Vader lord Tyranus, he is a powerful Sith that will be of great assistance in bringing down the Jedi. I have decided that we shall put him to use."

Sidious' apprentice nodded, but the Sith lord still sensed concern within Dooku. "How will you insure that he doesn't turn on us to claim lordship of the Sith, master?"

Here Sidious grinned, and Dooku felt a chill run down his spine.

"All in due time, my apprentice. First, tell me how you have handled the situation regarding the Confederacy and Vader."

Immediately Dooku looked uncomfortable, and if Sidious had been capable he would have felt concern. As it was he merely felt impatience at his pawn's reluctance. "I am many things, Lord Tyranus, but a mind reader is not one of them," he said with amusement.

The aged Sith bowed his head in apology. "Forgive me master. As you did not contact me to give instructions I was forced to take matters into my own hands. I have called for a session of parliament to hold a vote on whether or not Darth Vader should be granted a commission as a general in the Confederate armies. The vote is more or less a formality, as the parliament is desperate to gain any advantage they can against the Jedi. The Separatist Council is of the same opinion."

Sidious was silent for a moment, and he watched with amusement as he felt Dooku experience heart stopping fear at his lack of a reaction. Ah, it was so fun to toy with the former Jedi.

He gave a small grin as he replied. "You have done well, Lord Tyranus. Insure that this motion in the parliament passes with as little opposition as possible. _Persuade_ them if necessary," he said to the count, who looked relieved that his master approved. As he should be, his life depended on Sidious' mood at any time. "Meanwhile, I should like to meet this Darth Vader to gauge him for myself. I will meet you and our new ally in two days in The Maw."

Dooku bowed in acquiescence. "It shall be done, my lord."

The Dark Lord once again grinned. "Farewell, my friend. The tide is turning in our favor, and soon it shall be the Jedi who are forced to cower in the shadows."

With that he ended the transmission, and as soon as he had reverted back to his frail persona of _sweet, harmless_ Chancellor Palpatine he contacted his secretary. The head of the Republic would be vacationing on Naboo for four days, and no one would spare it a second thought, seeing nothing more than an old man relaxing on his home world. After all, what else could he _possibly_ be doing?

* * *

 _They were surrounded. Surrounded by the fires and ashes of Mustafar. The planet was a conglomeration of raging violence given form through endless volcanic eruptions and ash storms. It was an appropriate reflection of his own inner self. The Dark Side roared in him like an all-consuming furnace, clamoring and clawing with the desperate need to find something, anything, to burn._

 _It had found its target._

"LIAR!" _he shouted at his wife, eyeing her with fury and hate and_ hurt. _"You're with him! You've brought him here to kill me!"_

 _She backed away fear, shaking her head in denial as tears pooled in her sad, beautiful brown eyes. "No!"_

 _In his outrage he reached out with the Force at her windpipe, and her hands reached to her throat as she fought in vain to breathe. "Anakin…" she gasped, not angry but heartbroken._

 _He further tightened the noose, not realizing that he was killing his angel in his blind rage._

" _Let her go Anakin!" that_ damned _voice shouted. He did not listen._

"Let. Her. Go," _it repeated, and this time he did listen, though it was too late as what had once been filled with such life and vibrancy and goodness now collapsed like a sack to the unforgiving ground._

 _Everything shifted. Cold gray walls replaced raging red flames and the beautiful angel dressed in beige was switched for a passionate spitfire garbed in pure white. She lazed on the bench in her prison cell even as his terror inducing breath filled the room. As if his presence at all meant nothing to her. He would correct that very soon, he thought with relish._

" _And now, your highness, it is time to reveal the location of your hidden base," he said in dark amusement as the black orb that only a mind steeped in sadism and depravity could craft floated almost tranquilly behind him. Immediately the girl's indifference shifted to fear, and fear shifted to pain as her screams filled the room and rolled like a devil's music through his ears._

 _Once again everything changed. The blank cell was replaced by an enormous shaft and howling winds as red and blue clashed in a dazzling display of swordsmanship and power. The spitfire was replaced by a boy with dreams to become a warrior, and the not-Jedi grinned as he penetrated the defenses of the Dark Lord and hit him on the shoulder armor._

 _It barely caused any pain, but all the same it sent him into a flying rage. He would teach this upstart_ true _pain! With an inhuman roar he slashed and hacked and chopped, driving his prey further and further back until there was nowhere to go. They exchanged blows at a lightning pace, the boy's sword driven by desperation and his by hatred. Eventually hatred won out._

 _With murderous glee he knocked the Jedi's lightsaber to the side before bringing his own crimson blade down to chop off the boy's hand. The blond cried out in pain as he fell back, crawling away like a beaten dog to get away from the lightsaber pointed at his throat._

" _There is no escape," he said as he advanced closer to the boy. "Don't make me destroy you."_

 _Still the child did not listen, opting to crawl further and further on the protruding bean, displaying impressive balance._

" _Luke, you do not realize you're importance. You have only_ begun _to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."_

" _I'll never join you!" the not-Jedi spits, as if the very notion disgusted him. Foolish boy._

" _If you only knew the power of the Dark Side," he continued, undeterred by his prey's resistance. He_ would _have him, it was inevitable. "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."_

 _The boy's eyes widen in anger. "He told me enough!" he shouted back, hanging on desperately to the pole. "He told me you killed him."_

 _The boy sounded smug, as if this belief of his would somehow stop him. Naïve._

" _No," he replied. "_ I _am your father."_

 _It all changed once more. This time he was in a dark throne room that was at least two stories high, the throne itself being placed at the top of a tall staircase with a large circular window behind it. Shadows were everywhere, but what caught his attention was the vile human sitting on the throne. He was truly disgusting, with a malformed face bearing a sneering mouth revealing blackened teeth and sunken, amber eyes that gleamed with evil intent. Through all of his revulsion he couldn't help but feel that this man looked familiar._

" _What is this?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the robed… thing._

 _The sneer only grew and the eyes shined with sick amusement, but he did not answer. Instead a deep, hollow breath filled the room, and heavy footsteps sounded behind him. Dreading what he might find, Anakin turned his head slowly behind him._

 _And was met with the sight of a monster._

 _As tall as a wookie and garbed in black armor and a cape, this monster reeked of hatred and darkness. It stared him down with an onyx mask resembling an ancient Sith war droid, and the two lifeless lenses that hid the thing's eyes pierced his very soul._

 _The thing reached forward, and he was helpless to stop it as he could not move. His eyes were wide with fear as the creature slowly edged closer to him._

" _It is your destiny," the Sith said in a bass voice devoid of feeling yet at the same time bridling with an undercurrent of rage and hate._

 _The hand engulfed him, and everything was black._

With a jolt the man known as Anakin Skywalker awoke to sweat soaked sheets and the worried gaze of his wife. For a moment his blue eyes, so much like shards of ice, darted about, trying to discern any threat that might be lurking in the shadows of his apartment. His breathing was erratic, and he was forced to use a Jedi meditation technique to calm himself.

"Anakin?" Padme Amidala asked, her face etched in concern for her husband. "What's wrong?"

As soon as she finished speaking she was engulfed in the Jedi's arms. He breathed in deeply, inhaling her scent and clinging on tightly as if she would disappear if he let go. By the Force she was _alive._

"You're okay," he whispered breathlessly, relief evident in his tone. "You're really okay."

Padme, confused at what he was saying nevertheless returned her husband's embrace and began to soothingly rub his back. "Of course I'm okay," she replied. "Was it a bad dream?"

For a moment Anakin stilled, and was unsure of whether or not he should answer. After a moment he mentally shook his head. Padme was his wife, if he couldn't tell her anything, then who could he tell?

He simply nodded an affirmative in her shoulder, still clinging to her like a lifeline in a stormy ocean. In a way that is exactly what Padme was to him, a lifeline in this harsh reality that was the Clone Wars.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, and he knew that she would not begrudge him if he didn't. But he needed to tell her. This wasn't something that he could deal with alone.

"There was a planet," he began, voice small and timid. "Covered in fire and lava. You were there on a landing platform next to a ship and… and…"

His voice hitched, and Padme leaned back to stroke his face comfortingly. He leaned into the touch for all it was worth, and when he looked back into her chocolate eyes that he knew he could stare into for eternity his voice came out barely above a whisper. "You died," he said, and even as he said it he flinched at the very notion. "You died and I was right there and I couldn't do anything and-"

His words became scrambled, and eventually Anakin simply latched onto his Nubian wife in a fierce hold, noticing through the Force and her body language that she was somewhat shaken by his revelation. "But you're here," he said, though whether it was assurance for Padme or himself he did not know. "You're here and you're okay."

They said nothing else to each other, simply taking comfort in one another's presence as the couple drifted back to sleep in each other's arms. Just before he returned to the otherworldly land of dreams though Anakin realized one crucial thing.

Why had he seen Padme die through the eyes of the person that had killed her?

* * *

Normally the Maw, an area of space where there was an unholy concentration of black holes (the origin of which was still unknown), was devoid of any activity save for the multiple gaping abysses that awaited any foolhardy enough to venture into its domain. But not today. For today the Maw Cluster was host to a gathering of dark, terrible powers, beings that could (and in some cases had) wreak unfathomable levels of destruction and chaos on the galaxy.

They were the last Sith lords, the remnants of an empire that would singlehandedly challenge the galaxy time and time again and come so close to victory each time. They were the Dynasty of Bane, the Sith line which had lasted one thousand years and now sought to bring its millennium old dream of a galaxy ruled by a Sith to fruition.

Vader could not be more disgusted.

For days he had been mentally preparing himself for the inevitable meeting with his former master Darth Sidious, and while he had enough self-control to not lash out the moment he saw the old wretch he could not help but feel a whirlwind of hate and rage. This was the man that had poisoned his mind. This was the man that had promised him the power to save his wife and children. This was the man that had turned him against his friends, family and all that he believed in and held dear. This was the man that had made him his slave.

If ever Darth Vader were to believe in such a thing as the devil, his immediate first choice in a possible candidate would be Darth Sidious.

That was not the only thing that had the cybernetic Sith lord bothered however. It was the choice of meeting place as well. Not only was the Maw isolated, but it was also just… off. There was something that was simply _wrong_ with the Force here. He could feel it and he knew that Dooku, who had taken him here in his solar sailor could as well. It felt like the Dark Side yet at the same time it wasn't. More it was some perversion of the Dark Side, something so twisted that a whisper of its name would make even Sith lords recoil in revulsion and fear.

There was something here, something twisted and evil that was beyond his comprehension and he wanted nothing more than to leave.

Vader mentally shook himself and discreetly drew on the Light Side to calm his nerves. It would not do to be so unnerved, especially considering who he was meeting. He needed to keep his wits about him if he was going to get out of this place alive.

He looked up as the light indicating that the docking process with Sidious' ship was complete, and steeled himself as he felt the Dark Lord draw closer. Subtly he drew the Dark Side around himself, forming a curtain of black hate that Sidious would not be able to pierce and would assume was his true self. In a sense it was. Darth Vader may have had the capacity for forgiveness, but when it came to his former master the cyborg simply could not let go of his hatred. It's not like he wanted to anyway.

Finally the door opened, and for the first time in what felt ages but was actually a little over a week Vader beheld the form of Darth Sidious. He had not yet been deformed by his own lightning, yet the old man's sickly yellow eyes glowed with as much power as ever from the shadow of his hooded face. And that damnable smirk was still in place.

He idly noticed Dooku fall to one knee with his head lowered in obeisance as Sidious glided into the solar sailor's main chamber, and Vader felt it as the Dark Lord subtly flared his power. In the Force Sidious was a shining beacon of the Dark Side, dark tendrils of power whirled around him with breakneck speed, and the light suddenly dimmed in his presence. This was the being who had ruled the galaxy as an emperor for twenty years with an iron fist, and it was easy to see why. His power truly was on an entirely different level than the average Force user.

But then, so was Darth Vader.

Sidious' smirk turned to a frown as he noticed the cyborg's refusal to show respect, and the atmosphere of the room grew slightly oppressive as he further displayed his power and, by extension, his displeasure at being disrespected.

It did not work, as Vader barely noticed the shift and slightly flared his own power, and he noted with smug satisfaction that Sidious looked surprised. It was gone in a flash, and the unseen battle of wills ended as the Sith lord turned to his apprentice. "You may rise, Lord Tyranus."

Dooku, who had been having difficulty breathing due to the sheer concentration of power stood. "My master," he said with a nod of his head.

Sidious returned the nod before once again turning to Vader. He spread his arms in greeting. "Greetings, I am Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith and head of the Dynasty of Bane."

Vader, after a moment of hesitation (a man who had godly levels of master over Force lightning was offering to shake hands with him when both of his arms were prosthetic) took that hand in a firm grip and shook it. "I am Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Sidious."

 _I wonder how long it would take to crush your windpipe with my bare hands,_ Vader thought, grinning savagely at the mental image as the two Sith lords ended the handshake.

"I am curious, Lord Vader," Sidious drawled, eyeing Vader like a hawk about to devour a fish. "Where have you been this entire time? I hardly think that a Sith dynasty would knowingly ignore their ally for so long."

In other words, just who the hell are you?

"I come from a Sith line dating back to the time of Revan," Vader half-lied. While there wasn't a single Sith Dynasty that survived from that time, the philosophy of Darth Bane had been influenced by Revan's teachings. "After his fall the founders went into hiding to regroup and eventually strike back at the Jedi. Due to infighting the line's numbers were whittled down until there were but two, a master and an apprentice. Realizing that the very nature of the Sith prevented them from cooperating efficiently in large numbers the survivors decided that they would not rebuild the Sith Order as it once was, but instead would remain at only two members that would work to bring the galaxy to heel from the shadows. Ever since the teachings of the line have been passed down from teacher to student for three thousand years, all the while biding our time and waiting for the chance to destroy the Jedi."

It was an altered version of the story of Darth Bane, and Vader was certain that both Sidious and Dooku picked up on the similarities. That was why he was confident they would believe him, if reluctantly. After all, the best lies were those that held a grain of truth.

"I see," Sidious said eventually, his eyes glowing. "Most interesting indeed."

"How did your dynasty determine the line of succession?" Dooku asked, sounding curious. "We here in the line of Bane determine who leads by who has the most strength. If the master is unworthy or has nothing left to teach the apprentice challenges him or her for lordship of the Sith. Whoever emerges victorious is the one worthy of continuing the dynasty."

How to respond, Vader mused. He could tell that Sidious was not pleased with Dooku revealing so much information at once, if the look he was sending him was any indication. But he already knew all of what Dooku had told him in the first place so it really didn't matter. But he digressed. What should he tell them? While it might seem a small matter, the way his "dynasty" determined their succession could affect the way Sidious and Dooku saw him. It could make him look weak. And above all else the Sith valued strength. Weakness could not be afforded.

"That is… different, from how we handle our succession," he replied, coming up with an answer that would satisfy the two vultures before him. "For our part we do not engage in a duel to determine lordship, rather the master grooms the apprentice to take their place. Once the apprentice is taught all the master knows of the Force the relationship enters a new phase where the apprentice and master are considered almost equals, but at the same time they are not. The apprentice still answers to the master, and this phase is spent teaching the apprentice the ways of the galaxy. Politics, espionage, business, anything that will be needed for the Sith to blend in with the elites of the galaxy.

"Eventually the apprentice is instructed to find an apprentice of their own while the master prepares for the eventual transfer of lordship. Once an apprentice is found and it is determined that they are worthy of being taught the heir returns to the master. If the master deems the apprentice their heir has selected as worthy then an elaborate ritual is begun, the end result of which is the death of the master (who by this time would be succumbing to old age) and the transfer of lordship of the dynasty to the heir who becomes the master. Then the cycle is begun all over again. This has lasted for three thousand years, and there has not been a single break in the line."

By the time he was finished with his little tale Vader noted that both Dooku and Sidious were frowning, and he could guess why. The idea of the apprentice and master being considered equal must have been anathema to them.

Sidious hummed, stroking his chin in thought. He looked disapproving.

"You disapprove of our methods?" Vader asked, a note of challenge entering his voice. In reality he didn't give a damn what these two thought of his make-believe Sith dynasty, but it would be prudent for them to think he was quite proud to be a part of it.

"It seems like the work of craven weaklings if you ask me," Dooku said, his face contorted into a sneer. "The apprentice and master, equals? Don't be ridiculous. That will never work. And you're method of determining succession is gutless, how do you prevent a weakling from inheriting lordship? How do we know that _you_ aren't a weakling?"

The cabin went deathly silent save for Vader's breathing, and one could have heard a pen drop. To call a Sith lord craven and weak was the worst insult among their order's ranks. It was the Sith equivalent of accusing someone of adultery, theft, fraud and all sorts of unsavory acts lumped into one. Any response up to and including a duel to the death was warranted.

"Do not," Vader began lowly as he flared his Force signature and gripped Dooku's neck with the Force. The old man began gagging as his hands went around his throat. "Think for even one second that I am _weak_. Compared to me you are an ant. I have battled foes far more worthy of the title Sith lord than you, Count, and all of them were ground to dust beneath my heel. I will forgive this first transgression but, if you even consider thinking such things again I will not hesitate to erase you. Is that understood?"

Dooku did not respond, for he was unable to due to the fact that his windpipe was being crushed. "What was that? I didn't quite hear you," Vader said, dark amusement filling his baritone voice.

Eventually Sidious came to his apprentice's rescue, though Vader could tell he was disgusted to have to do so. "Enough of this. Vader, release him."

"As you wish," he drawled, and the Separatist leader fell to the floor gasping for breath, his eyes wide in terror and the realization that if it weren't for his master he could have very well just died.

Sidious looked down at his apprentice and then at Vader, and the cyborg noticed with slight disgust the amusement that glittered in the man's eyes. He truly saw his apprentice as nothing more than a pawn. For a brief moment Vader felt a pang of pity for Dooku, but ruthlessly quashed it. The man had chosen his path, and would have to deal with the consequences of what it entailed.

"Lord Vader," Sidious said in his drawling voice, his mouth curved into a small smirk. "If you would be so kind as to wait here for a moment. There is something that my apprentice and I need to _discuss._ "

Vader nodded as Dooku got back to his feet, and he could not help but notice the flash of fear in the man's eyes. "Very well. I will wait for you here."

Sidious turned and began walking into one of the bedchambers of the solar sailor, bidding Dooku to come with a flick of his wrist that reminded him so much of someone summoning a dog. With visible hesitation Dooku followed, and as soon as he entered the room the door shut and locked.

* * *

As soon as his apprentice entered Sidious turned sharply, his robes flaring about him as his eyes glowed with menace. "Never before have I been so thoroughly _embarrassed_ Lord Tyranus!" he hissed, and while Dooku's face remained stoic he could see the flinch in his eyes. "In front of another Sith lord no less!"

The count bowed his head. "Forgive me master, I did not think that-"

"Precisely," Sidious purred, and he noted with savage glee that Dooku paled. It was always a bad sign when he spoke calmly while angered. It meant that someone was about to experience an entirely new definition of pain. "You did not _think_ Lord Tyranus. And because you did not decide to _think_ I was not only embarrassed and cast as weak in front of a potential ally but nearly lost my apprentice as well. So the next time you decide to speak think before you do. Otherwise…"

Here Sidious reached out a hand and grabbed his pawn's jaw in a grip of durasteel that should not have been stored in such an old hand. "I will not hesitate to cut your tongue out. Understood, my apprentice?"

Dooku nodded, a barely noticeable tremble evident as he did so. Sidious smirked as he released the man's jaw. Dooku was so easy to control, just throw in a threat of bodily harm or torture and he would cave in easily.

"Now," he continued, as if the previous few seconds hadn't even happened. "In spite of your potential blunder we are fortunate. From Vader's actions I was able to gauge his personality and to some extent the power of his abilities."

Dooku was rubbing his jaw, there were almost certainly some bruises, and his tone was curious as he asked. "And what did you find master?"

A dangerous smirk adorned the Dark Lord's face as his eyes glowed like sharp shards of amber. "He is _perfect_ , Lord Tyranus. I think he will do quite nicely as a general in our armies. No, more than that he is worthy of a partnership between us. A specifically _Sith_ partnership. All that is left is to test his commitment."

The Serenno count nodded his head in acceptance, though he was visibly surprised at the second offer. "Then I shall offer him the position immediately master. The parliament and council have already voted in favor of it so that is out of the way. But how will we insure he does not grow out of our control?"

Sidious waved his hand dismissively. What Dooku really meant was how _he_ would keep Vader under control."Leave that to me. Now then, shall we welcome our new comrade into the fold?"

* * *

Vader looked up from his seat as the two Sith lords reentered the main cabin, and he noted warily that Sidious was wearing a slightly wider smirk than usual. Though that could mean any number of things, he had learned to exercise caution whenever he saw it.

Dooku stepped forward, and Vader noted that he seemed somewhat embarrassed and defeated. "My master wishes to offer you a generalship in the Confederate armies. The technical details have already been taken care of, all that is needed is for you to accept. However, before you do I have a question. What is the name of your Sith Dynasty?"

The Sith cyborg shrugged. He had expected them to ask that. "That has been lost to us over time. All we know is that we came from the Empire of Revan."

Dooku nodded in understanding. Such a thing was not unthinkable. "Understandable. Well then, back to my first question. Do you accept?"

Vader nodded. He had thought they would accept his proposal. "I am glad to accept his invitation," he said neutrally.

"Also," Dooku continued, gaining Vader's attention. "Seeing as you are a Sith lord of great power and share our goal of destroying the Jedi, the head of the Dynasty of Bane has offered to form a partnership between us, with himself as leader. It would be an alliance of equals, yet my lord Sidious would be at the head to guide us to a future of Sith dominance."

Vader paused, surprised that they would offer him this sort of alliance. It was so reminiscent of… "A Second Triumvirate," he mused. The idea was quite interesting actually. This would allow him a bit of leeway and freedom that a simple general's commission would not. But at the same time he would ultimately be answerable directly to Sidious. It was a paradox. Accept the offer and he was free from Dooku's authority, yet at the same time he would be subordinate to Darth Sidious. Decline and he would be a mere general that took orders from Dooku who in turn answered to Sidious in the first place.

"I accept," he said at last. It would be more beneficial to, as Dooku would not be able to control him as easily. Though it placed him closer to Sidious, the pros outweighed the cons. "In honor of the first Triumvirate I propose that we declare our titles as lords of the Sith."

Vader's fellow Sith nodded, and Dooku stepped forward. "I am Darth Tyranus, the Lord of Wrath."

 _More like the Lord of foolishness_ Vader thought with a mental sneer.

Sidious went up second, and his grin revealed his as of now perfectly arranged white teeth. "I am Darth Sidious, the Lord of Deceit."

It was fitting title for the old man, though not unexpected. Now Vader stepped forward.

"And I am Darth Vader, the Lord of Pride. Together we are the Triumvirate, and we shall destroy the Jedi Order and bring the Sith eternal glory."

He was about to continue when Sidious suddenly stepped forward. "As the head of this Triumvirate," he said smugly causing Vader to frown. "I believe that a test of Lord Vader is in order to prove his worth as a member of our trinity."

Vader's frown turned into a scowl. He should have expected this, it was just like Sidious to throw in some sort of test to prove his loyalty. It was no matter, he would rise above whatever was thrown at him like the annoyance it was.

He would later come to regret those words.

"What would you have me do?" he asked as he looked Sidious directly in the eyes, and stopped as his blood turned to ice and his hand subconsciously twitched toward his lightsaber. He knew those eyes, what they entailed. They were the eyes that had ordered him to torture his daughter for information, they were the eyes that had ordered the destruction of Alderaan, they were the eyes that had ordered him to turn his son to the Dark Side of the Force.

They were the eyes that had brought his life to ruin.

At first Sidious didn't respond, but his grin grew steadily into a sneer, and the darkness gathered around him while the galaxy itself seemed to pause as if it were waiting with bated breath for the decree of the Dark Lord.

"Tell me, Lord Vader, did you know that Naboo is quite lovely this time of year? I think you should go there right away. And you should bring quite a few friends as well."

* * *

Author's Note: Another two months another chapter. I am an incredibly slow writer. Ah well, can't be helped.

Not much to say really. The plot is moving forward, and as you can tell the stage is going to focus on Naboo. All I'm going to say is that it's going to get kind of dark the next couple of chapters. But it's Darth Vader, what would you expect?

I actually had to use wookiepedia a lot for this chapter, and I actually found out quite a few things, like the fact that Acclamators are divided into two sub-classes.

Also, I'd like to note that I used the U.S. Army's system of organization for determining the size of a division, and will most likely continue to use it to determine the way the GAR organizes its forces unless someone can provide me with canon information on how they do that.

And lastly, a whole bucket of cookies goes to the first person who guesses what I was referring to when describing the Maw.


	5. Chapter 5 vaders dark deeds

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars

Chapter five : Vader's Dark Deeds

 _C.S.S._ Indomitable, _Chommel Sector_

The Force had a strange sense of humor, Vader mused. Throughout the Clone Wars, and even after, he had led Republic forces on countless operations against Separatist fleets and strongholds. The Hero with No Fear, they had called him. Indeed, as Anakin Skywalker he had instilled Confederate soldiers with dread at the very mention of his name, while at the same time invigorating and inspiring the forces of the Republic.

Oh, what a lifetime ago that was.

On the bridge of the _Indomitable_ , a Providence class cruiser (one of the first to be produced as well), Vader stood amidst the bustling of various technicians as they called out status reports to their superiors, his breathing lost in the cacophony. He was a monolith of fabric and durasteel, positioned at the front of the bridge for an uninterrupted view from the viewports. Laid out before the Sith lord was the fleet that he would lead to Naboo. It was a modest affair, consisting of eight ships, three _Munificents_ , three _Recusants,_ and two _Providence_ class warships, his own vessel the _Indomitable,_ and her sister ship, the poetically named _Light of the Confederacy._

It was a full Confederate Flight, the sort that Vader had fought against countless times as a Jedi. A good, solid force, perfect for taking on the orbital defenses of a planet like Naboo with sheer numbers and firepower, and it was his to command. However, there was something wrong about this.

While each ship in the Flight carried thousands of battle droids and organic soldiers, this force was not following standard Confederate protocol for an invasion. Vader had led enough campaigns to know that any time the Separatists invaded a planet they had at least a single _Lucrehulk_ on hand to bolster their ground troops and provide logistical support and supplies. The reason for this was that aside from being a massive battleship capable of dealing out large amounts of punishment, the hangars of a _Lucrehulk_ were simply _massive_ , capable of transporting legions of soldiers and equipment along with fighter craft, they were a go to ship for any fleet looking to subdue a planet. And this force conspicuously lacked even one.

More concerning however was what he felt in the Force. Ever since Vader had stepped aboard this ship he had felt a sense of crushing dread, the likes of which seeped into his very bones and weighed him down with all its unmovable inevitability. The Force itself, it was even more frightening. The Force seemed… terrified, like it knew something horrible was lurking around the corner and was screaming at him to run away. He was almost tempted to, but he did not.

Vader was certain that Sidious had some higher plan concerning Naboo, but what it was he could not fathom. He knew that it was a test of his commitment, but there was something more that was just beyond his reach. Regardless, he could not stop here, not when he was so close to entering the inner circle of the Sith.

Even so, the Sith cyborg was somewhat hesitant to carry out an attack on Naboo. For one it was the homeworld of his wife, and he was certain it would bring her pain to see it assaulted once again. Also, Vader had many fond memories of the planet. Not only was it beautiful and a shining beacon within the Force, but it was where he had been married, and where he and Padme had planned on raising their children.

Inwardly he sighed in resignation. It was a necessary evil, loathe as he was to admit it. He would simply have to ensure the attack was quick and decisive with minimal casualties. Considering that Naboo's defenses were rather light, that would be a simple matter.

Feeling a presences behind him, Vader turned to see the commodore in command of the Flight, a human who looked like he belonged in a corporate office instead of the military. For this mission he and his ships had been placed under the Sith lord's direct command and had been told to follow his every order, for which he was thankful. From what the cyborg had seen, the man hadn't earned his rank through his own skill.

"Did you have something to report?" Vader asked.

The man nodded, and the Sith could feel the commodore's consternation at having to answer to a relatively unknown individual. His ego certainly wasn't being helped by this situation Vader mused. "All ships report that they have completed preparations, _general_. We are ready to move at your command."

Vader nodded in satisfaction, though he didn't miss the man's emphasis on the word general or the annoyance that he felt from the man. He was simply glad that they could finally get under way. The sooner this mission was over, the better. "Good. Order the fleet to jump into hyperspace. Our destination is Naboo."

The commodore nodded stiffly, and went to move away when Vader added, "And commodore, do remember that Dooku instructed you to follow my _every_ order. Insubordination will not be tolerated. Is that clear?"

The Sith lord began applying a small amount of pressure to the man's neck with the Force, and the commodore quickly paled as he understood the warning. Frantically he nodded, his earlier annoyance now replaced with fear. "Yes, yes, p-perfectly clear, General Vader!"

He nodded, and the commodore sighed in relief as the pressure around his neck was ceased. "Carry on then."

With a speed that he had lacked earlier the human rushed to give out Vader's orders, and with a mental sigh the Sith turned back to gazing out the bridge viewports. While it was somewhat distasteful to use the same fear tactics he had in the Empire, Vader understood that they still had their uses, and was not above resorting to such measures to maintain obedience from his officers. An army without effective officers was no army at all.

"I think you terrified the poor man," a familiar voice said from behind him, and Vader did not turn as he had already sensed the individual in the Force before he spoke.

"Soldiers must be willing to follow the orders of their superiors without question, whether it be out of respect and admiration or fear and obedience. Otherwise you have a disorganized rabble instead of an army."

Rune Gunray nodded. "I suppose there is logic in that, though I would rather have my men respect me instead of being terrified of me."

"As would I," Vader said in agreement. "But sometimes it is impossible to have them respect you, in which case you must have them fear you to insure your forces still operate efficiently. It is the way of the galaxy, distasteful as it is."

Vader looked to Rune to see him once again nodding in agreement. The nemoidian stood in the formal uniform of a Confederate officer, a resplendent affair of bright crimson and darker maroon. On his shoulders golden epaulets reserved for high ranking officers laid, and on the collar of the uniform's double breasted jacket a pin shaped in the six pointed star of a Confederate colonel was displayed. Rune was also wearing his peaked cap, which was colored in the same crimson and maroon as the rest of his uniform. The symbol of the C.I.S. served as a cap badge.

Vader had taken an interest in Rune after seeing him in action at Ruusan, and being curious had looked into the man's dossier to see that he was an accomplished if anonymous officer. The Sith had been surprised to find that yes, Rune was related to Viceroy Nute Gunray, they were in fact distant cousins. This had not stopped Vader from having Rune assigned to this mission as commander of all ground operations, as the man had shown a great aptitude for surface warfare. Vader would have taken command of those himself, but as he didn't have faith in the abilities of this particular Flight's commodore he had elected to handle affairs in space himself. For his part the nemoidian colonel simply looked glad to have a command again.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Rune said after a moment of silence.

Vader nodded, understanding the colonel's dread. "I sense a disturbance in the Force," he said. "We must be cautious, as there is more to this than meets the eye."

As Rune nodded his agreement, the Confederate fleet began to enter hyperspace, and the stars stretched in a pattern intimately familiar to the Sith.

Soon, Naboo's blissful peace would be at an end.

* * *

 _R.A.S._ Defender, _in orbit of Malastare_

Ahsoka Tano was many things. A Jedi Padawan, a good pilot, a commander of clone troopers, drop dead gorgeous (if she did say so herself), and a skilled lightsaber duelist. Going by this, admittedly, biased summary of herself as a person, one could say Ahsoka had it made. Indeed, on most days she would agree with that assessment.

If one didn't count the fact that her master was an absolute slave driver.

"Come on, Snips, I could do this with my eyes closed!"

Currently Ahsoka had the "privilege" of sparring with her master in the _Defender's_ gym, and suffice to say, she was being beaten badly.

"Ow!"

 _Very_ badly.

With a yelp of surprise and slight pain the young Togruta literally fell on her backside, holding her side as she did so. She heard a sigh, and looked up to see her master standing a little ways off, his lightsaber active, though thankfully it was in training mode.

"Again, Snips, and try to last longer than thirty seconds this time."

With a mental snarl she got back to her feet and ignited her own viridian blade in a reverse grip. Letting out a battle cry she leapt forward and engaged her master.

 _Become Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, they said,_ she thought as the duo exchanged blows, and it quickly became noticeable that Ahsoka was struggling to keep up with her master's strong and fast strikes. _It'll be a learning experience they said. How is this learning?!_

Indeed, recently her master had taken to putting the poor Togruta through a series of what he called "training exercises". Ahsoka liked to call them torture sessions. No matter what form they were in, it all boiled down to her enduring what amounted to a beat down for several hours straight.

A blue lightsaber that almost looked as if it were aimed for her face interrupted the young Jedi's thoughts, and Ahsoka cried out in surprise as she blocked the attack. Inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief at having stopped her master's blade, even if it was set to a non-lethal setting it was still painful, but that relief quickly turned to dread when she saw the Jedi Knight's conspiratorial grin.

That dread proved well founded when out of nowhere Ahsoka found her feet knocked out from under her by the Force. Within a blink she found herself on the floor with a lightsaber at her throat.

The young Togruta was greeted with the sight of Anakin's grinning face looming over her, his eyes dancing with mirth. "Looks like I win again Snips. What's that, ten times in a row?"

Ahsoka's eyes flashed with indignation, both from the nickname and the humiliating manner of her defeat. "But you cheated!"

She was surprised when Anakin suddenly became serious, his eyes gaining a glint that they only held when she made a mistake or did something to disappoint her master. "In war there is no such thing as fair play Ahsoka," Anakin said as he helped her to her feet. "It's either kill or be killed. Our enemies won't play by the rules; they'll do whatever it takes to win even if it hurts innocent people. We have to be watchful for any such tricks, and at times we will have to resort to such underhandedness ourselves."

Ahsoka watched her mentor as he spoke, somewhat surprised at what he was saying. "But master, isn't it our job as Jedi to be examples of morality? Isn't it hypocritical of us if we use trickery for our own ends?"

The young Togruta felt a warm feeling well up inside her as her master smiled in approval. "That is true Ahsoka, but sometimes we simply don't have a choice. People like Dooku and Ventress will exploit our moral code for their own benefit, and at times we have to fight dirty too to beat them. I'm not saying that we should take hostages or anything like that, as there are some lines that just shouldn't be crossed, but if you see an opportunity to weaken your opponent, it's imperative that you take it."

Ahsoka nodded, feeling that she understood what her master was saying. "I understand master. I'll make sure to remember that. But seeing as that's the case…"

With a smirk Ahsoka used the Force to pull her friend's feet out from under him in much the same manner that Anakin had done to her only moments ago. The Jedi Knight spluttered in surprise when a lightsaber was pressed to his throat, though he instinctually knew it was on a non-lethal setting.

Anakin looked up to see Ahsoka with a devious grin on her face, and she felt no small measure of pride at having finally caught her master off guard. "Looks like I win this time, master," she said with cheer.

Anakin frowned for a moment before he started laughing as Ahsoka got off and helped him to his feet. "You catch on quick Snips. But that one didn't count."

Her eyes widened before she stamped her foot in annoyance, glaring at her master. "Yes it did! I got you on the ground, Force trick or not!"

Anakin laughed as he began walking away, his voice taking on a singsong quality. "We weren't having a match, so it doesn't!"

Ahsoka growled as she followed after master, muttering something about annoying teachers and men in general as she did so.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Defender,_ a _Venator_ class Star Destroyer,Obi-wan Kenobi snorted as he felt the antics of Anakin and his padawan through the Force. It was easy to tell what they had been doing by Anakin's amusement and Ahsoka's annoyance. Trying as they could be sometimes, it was always refreshing to see, or in this case feel the two working together. It reminded Obi-wan of the early days of Anakin's apprenticeship under him. They might have argued at least half the time, but at the end of the day they were simply a teacher and their student enjoying one another's company. The memory made the recently christened Jedi Master long for the days before the war. Stressful as they had sometimes been, they were trivial compared to what Obi-wan, and indeed the rest of the Republic, endured now.

"I take it that Anakin and Ahsoka are up to their usual antics?" a masculine voice asked from behind, and Obi-wan didn't have to turn around to know it was Admiral Yularen.

The Jedi nodded with a grin, and Yularen sighed in resignation. "I swear, those two are more like my own children than I care to think about."

Obi-wan chuckled. "They're young Admiral, let them enjoy life."

Yularen snorted. "Ahsoka maybe, but Skywalker is old enough that he should start acting more responsibly. Case in point being his reckless piloting. Sometimes I forget he's a general instead of some hotshot cadet."

The Jedi master nodded. Yularen did have a point, as Anakin could be a bit… liberal in his flying. "True, but his unorthodoxy has served us well in the past."

The Republic admiral nodded his agreement, not having anything to say against that. While reckless, Anakin Skywalker's unorthodox tactics and stunts had nabbed the Republic several major victories, especially at Munnilist, where his leadership of the space forces had decimated the Confederate orbital assets.

"So, what's the status of our resupply?" Obi-wan asked, looking to continue the conversation for lack of anything else to do.

"They're nearly complete," Yularen replied after checking his datapad. "We estimate thirty minutes before everything's finished loading. After that we're scheduled to head for Naboo with our _Venator_ ships. Apparently there's been rumors of Confederate ships lurking around the edge of the system in the past couple of weeks and we've been assigned to investigate."

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow. Six _Venators_ being sent to investigate a rumor? That seemed a bit overkill, especially for a peaceful place such as the Naboo system. In the end he shrugged. Better to be over-prepared and run into nothing than to be under-prepared and be overwhelmed by a superior enemy.

"Very well, proceed as planned admiral."

With a salute Yularen went off to oversee the final preparations, and Obi-wan returned to standing on the bridge in silence, the various clone technicians working busily around him to ensure everything was at peak performance.

He couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the feeling he got from the Force. There was more to this investigation than there initially seemed. It would be wise to be cautious when investigating these rumors.

The Jedi Master had no idea how true those "rumors" were about to become.

* * *

 _Theed, Naboo_

The city of Theed was considered the crown jewel of Naboo and the entire Chommel sector. Its environ was rated as one of the most beautiful in the galaxy, and the city's architecture was unparalleled in its elegance and grace. Coruscant had its grand constructs of durasteel and glass that reached to the heavens, but Theed had something that Coruscant's planet spanning city did not. There was no hustle and bustle in the capital of Naboo, no sense of rush, only a feeling of ease and peace.

Even with the presence of clone troopers in the capital this feeling hadn't changed. Even though it hosted a garrison Naboo was considered more of a safe haven for Republic forces than anything, a place for the Grand Army to rest and relax in between campaigns. This showed in the relaxed manner of the troopers. They were only in their armor when on duty, and even then the marching patrols of troops would chat amicably with civilians as they went by. Sometimes they would even stop for curious children who wanted to see the vaunted warriors of the Republic up close.

Indeed, Naboo could be called a paradise, a dream world that anyone would want to live in. But not for long.

For unknown to the denizens of Theed, their dream of blissful peace was about to become a living nightmare.

* * *

 _Republic Space Station_

Naboo was considered strategically unimportant in the grand scope of the war, and it showed with the orbital defenses the planet had in place. Aside from the several squadrons of N-1 starfighters based in Theed, the planet also had a small space station in its orbit. The station was small, only lightly armed and shielded, meant to act as a deterrent to pirates and slavers instead of a defense against actual warships. It also only held two squadrons of V-14 fighters in its hangar bays, once again only to deter common raiders instead of engage actual Confederate ships.

Parks Anstasi was part of the planetary militia, having joined up with the desire to defend his planet but not wanting to be sent abroad. He was a rookie, having only recently finished his training as a radar technician. Parks had been assigned to the Alpha-One space station in orbit of his home planet, along with ten other militia members and thirty clone troopers, including the fighter pilots. The militiamen actually manned the station while the troopers provided security, and while interesting at first the whole affair had become quite dull to the young man.

It was another slow day in orbit, and Parks was currently lounging back in his chair trying to nap. The only highlight of his day so far had been when a Nubian ship had entered the system, but his superior had informed him that it was simply the planet's senator here to visit. After that, and seeing that the ship was seemingly taking its sweet time in its approach, Parks had quickly lost interest.

 _This is so boring,_ he thought to himself. _If I'd known this was what I'd be doing I would have just stayed to help dad on the farm._

The young Nubian's thoughts were cut off when his console started beeping, indicating a contact. Parks' eyebrows shot up in interest, there weren't supposed to be any arrivals for another half hour. He quickly sat up in his chair and took in the reading, Eight ships, warships he guessed by their size, were on course for Naboo. The militiaman's eyes scrunched in confusion. Who could this be?

Deciding not to take the chance that the reading was an anomaly, he turned to his commanding officer. "Uh, sir, I've got something."

The man stood up from his chair and came over to Parks' console. "What is it?"

"Eight unknown ships have entered the system on a course for Naboo, sir. We weren't supposed to have an arrival for another half hour."

The commander's eyes narrowed before turning to the person working the comm. "Hail them immediately."

The woman manning the station did just that, but after a moment shook her head. "They're not responding sir."

Before the commander could respond to that Parks' console indicated that it had identified the ships. When he saw what the screen displayed, his eyes widened in horror. "Oh no."

Before he could warn his comrades the station began shaking, knocking a few people out of their chairs. "We're under attack!" the commander shouted redundantly. "Raise the shields and power up our weapons! And get me a visual of those ships!"

The viewscreen changed to show a picture of the ships, and everyone gasped at the sight of the eight Confederate ships on an attack course and launching fighters. More specifically, they were still with shock at the sight of the two _Providence_ class cruisers at the center of the formation.

" _Providence_ ships…"

"We're so dead…"

"Get it together!" the commander shouted. "Send out a distress signal on all frequencies, and warn Theed now!"

After a moment of trying the comm. tech turned with a look of fear on her face. "We're being jammed!"

A moment later the station shook again, and someone cried out that their shields were down.

"Everyone to the escape pods now," the commander said grimly, somehow maintaining his composure. "We have to warn Theed imm-"

Before he could finish his orders a turbolaser struck the station command center, and the crew were engulfed in flames.

* * *

 _C.S.S._ Indomitable

"Enemy space station destroyed, general. Orbit is secured."

Vader nodded in acknowledgement, pleased with the speed that they had destroyed the station. They had begun jamming immediately to prevent a distress call from getting out, so there would be no sudden Republic reinforcements.

"Good work. Have our fighters secure that ship we detected. I don't want the Republic receiving word of our presence here."

With a "roger, roger" the droid relayed the orders to their fighters, and soon the Nubian ship, after a few warning shots and aggressive maneuvers from the Vulture droids, was entering the _Indomitable's_ hangar.

"General, we have secured the ship and its passengers. They've been identified as Padme Amidala and a protocol droid."

If Vader's breathing hadn't been artificially maintained it would have certainly stopped then and there. _It can't be…_

"Amidala?" Rune questioned. "I thought she was supposed to be on Coruscant."

"Apparently not," Vader said, his calm voice not hiding his shock. Oh why did Padme have to be here _now,_ of all times?

"Shall we throw her in the brig?" Rune questioned after a moment of consideration.

Vader shook his head. Despite the situation, he couldn't resist the chance to see his wife again after twenty years. "Bring her to the bridge immediately. I shall meet with her. Perhaps we can use her as a bargaining chip later on," he said to the droid and Rune respectively.

The colonel nodded, while the droid uttered its own "roger, roger" before relaying the orders. Vader turned to the commodore, who until this point had been sitting in his chair looking and feeling quite useless. "Have the ships enter geosynchronous orbit above Theed, commodore. Meanwhile have the fighters assume a patrol pattern, I don't want any stray ship getting out of the system."

The commodore simply nodded, still bitter about how his command had been so utterly usurped. "Yes, General Vader."

After a few minutes of waiting while the ships assumed their position, the doors to the bridge finally opened, and Vader was beheld the sight of his wife for the first time in two decades.

His heart skipped a beat as it soared in joy. There she was, alive and well! Padme was just as beautiful as he remembered, with her beautiful dark eyes and hair the color of chocolate painting a contrast with her light skin. He was seized by the urge to rush to her and envelop her in his arms there and then, regardless of who was watching. But he controlled himself, and after schooling his thoughts and emotions was able to settle for a simple greeting.

"Welcome, Senator Amidala."

* * *

Padme could not believe it. After only five months, the war had come to Naboo. While it had always been a probability that the Confederacy would attack her planet for its staunch loyalty to the Republic, she had never thought it would actually happen.

She had simply been coming to Naboo to visit her family after a draining session of the Senate, hoping to be able to spend some quality time with them in their manor in the countryside. Instead her ship had been captured by the Confederate Navy, and in spite of the fact that she had witnessed the destruction of the Republic space station and the warships hovering ominously over her home the young Senator wanted to deny it was even happening.

But the proof was right in her face in the form of her and C-3PO being escorted down the halls of a separatist ship by battle droids. She silently prayed that help would come, but it was doubtful.

After a few minutes the group arrived at the bridge, and when the doors opened the first thing that greeted Padme's ears was the sound of heavy, mechanical breathing that sounded forced. After being forced to the center of the bridge Padme found the source of the breathing.

A pillar of the blackest fabric and armor stood with its back turned to her, and Padme noted with no small amount of trepidation that it easily towered over her. She couldn't discern the thing's (she couldn't tell if it was a man in a suit or a droid) figure, but Padme was certain that it was heavily built from the width of the shoulders. The back of the helmet was polished to the point that she could see her own reflection on its black surface, and she noticed the slight fear in her eyes.

Then the unknown being turned.

Her eyes widened, and she had to physically restrain a gasp. Standing before her was what could be best described as a rebuilt ancient Sith war droid. The suit was unsurprisingly black, with gray chest armor and control panel providing the only differences in color. The face plate of the helmet reminded the Senator somewhat of a fish, with its protruding "mouth" and big, empty eyes. Padme also noted with slight dread the lightsaber at the being's side. She could have sworn that she heard 3PO whisper an "oh, my!"

"Welcome, Senator Amidala."

The deep bass voice that spoke to her nearly made Padme jump. Her eyes connected with the black lenses, and she nearly shuddered at the way they seemed to bore into her soul. Not even General Grievous was so frightening, because he was somewhat predictable. You could still see his eyes, and were reminded that he was still a living thing. With this however, you didn't know what could happen. The lenses of the helmet were so empty, so lifeless, that one had to wonder whether there was even a life form inside.

She mentally berated herself for her reaction, and after gaining some control Padme mustered a fierce glare that unknowingly reminding her captor of a certain Alderaanian princess. "I demand to know who you are and why you have taken me aboard this ship."

The cyborg, at least that was what she assumed, tilted his head for a moment, and it was almost childlike in its manner. Padme thought it looked almost amused by her hostility. "My apologies for my rudeness. I am Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. And as you are a Republic Senator and this is a Confederate vessel, well that should be obvious."

Mentally Padme gasped. She had heard the name Darth Vader, who hadn't? Though he had been a rather mysterious figure due to lack of footage, everyone knew the name and a general description. A man in a black suit of armor standing as tall as a wookie and claiming to be a Sith lord was hard to be ignorant about. The fact that he had single handedly destroyed a Republic battalion only added to his fame- or infamy, depending on one's political allegiance. Mentally berating herself for not realizing who this was sooner, Padme nonetheless kept up her façade of calm, though she was certain that as Vader was a Sith he could feel her emotions in the Force. _Come on, Padme, be strong. Naboo needs you now._

"Then you can tell me the reason for this unprovoked attack. On a peaceful system with little strategic value no less," she half-asked, half ordered, hoping to get answers.

"Unprovoked?" Vader echoed, before pointing his gloved finger at her and nearly causing the Senator to flinch at its suddenness. "Our two factions are at war, Senator. There is no such thing as an unprovoked attack in war. Do not assume that your planet's illustrious reputation gives it protection. And also don't assume that your status in the Senate holds any sway here. You are at my mercy, it would be wise to remember that."

Padme kept up her glare, slightly angered at Vader's easy dismissal of her. She was by no means arrogant, but the Nubian Senator hated to be underestimated. "Naboo has no value in this war. We are a peaceful world with hardly any military presence, what point is there in this attack?"

"Peaceful planets do not have space stations orbiting them for protection, Amidala," Vader retorted. "And you are wrong about your planet having no value. Aside from your, admittedly small, plasma reserves, Naboo is seen as untouchable by the rest of the Republic. You fought off the Trade Federation in spite of impossible odds ten years ago, and have planted the notion that a single planet can hold off the might of the Confederacy if it fights hard enough within the minds of your citizens. Once we occupy the surface of your planet, the Republic will realize that _no_ world is beyond our reach, and that this will not be a quick, easy war."

Padme's eyes widened in shock. _That_ was his reasoning? Her look of shock quickly molded into an even fiercer glare. "It is that kind of reasoning that has only escalated this war. How will we ever be able to have peace if we are constantly fanning the flames of our own hatred towards one another?"

Surprisingly Vader nodded, which made Padme pause. "Perhaps, but war is hell. It is an all-consuming conflagration that forces us to rely on our hatred to survive. There is no place for love in such a thing."

"Then I pity you," Padme retorted, drawing herself up as she did so. "Only someone who has led a sad and lonely life would ever give such an answer."

The Nubian Senator's brows furrowed when Vader seemed to sag in his suit, and an air of melancholy overcame him. The Confederate officer at his side saw it as well, if his uneasy glance was anything to go by. "You have no idea how correct you are, Senator," he said lowly, causing Padme's eyes to scrunch further.

Before she could ponder Vader's mood swing any further it was gone, replaced with the confidence he had previously been exuding. "What's the status of the fleet?"

"All ships are in position, General," a droid reported from its station. "They await further orders."

The Sith nodded in satisfaction before turning to another droid. "Good. Contact Dooku for our orders immediately. He said he had something "special" in mind."

"Yes, General."

A feeling of dread welled up within Padme. Dooku's definition of "special" certainly didn't mean anything good for Naboo.

Within seconds the connection was made, and a life-size projection of the Confederate leader now stood on the bridge of the _Indomitable._ He seemed to have a smirk under his beard.

"Ah, General Vader, I was wondering when you would contact me," he said with false pleasantness, before turning to see Padme glaring at him. "And Senator Amidala as well. How delightful that you could join us."

"Spare me your pleasantries, Count," Padme said in way of greeting. "I demand to know what you intend with my planet right now."

The Serenno noble chuckled at the Nubian senator's confidence, more amused than anything else. "You shall see soon enough Senator."

With that the Confederate head of state turned back to Vader. "Naboo's orbit has been secured I assume?"

The cyborg nodded. "Yes, their defenses were light, and no response has been forthcoming, so I assume that the planet's militia and any Republic forces present are digging in."

Dooku waved his hand dismissively. "They're ground forces are of no concern to you, General. In fact they won't even be a factor."

Now Vader also seemed confused, along with the rest of the organic bridge crew while Padme's dread only resurfaced.

"I agree that the Naboo Militia is hardly a threat, but what do you mean they aren't even a factor, Count? They stand in the way of us taking Theed."

Here the Count smirked evilly. "Ah, but General Vader, whoever said your mission was take Theed?"

Padme's eyes widened in realization along with everyone else in the bridge that was not a droid. The Confederate commodore stood from his chair. "Sir, surely you can't mean…!"

Dooku did not turn from Vader, his smirk not leaving his face. "Yes. General Vader, you are ordered to bombard Theed from orbit. Leave nothing but ash."

* * *

It took all of Vader's self-restraint not to obliterate Dooku's neck with the Force. He should have known this test wouldn't be so simple, it was just like Sidious to force him to commit such a barbaric act.

Now Vader stood at a crossroads. Either he could refuse and spare Theed's inhabitants, or he played along with Sidious and proved his commitment to the Triumvirate and the Confederacy. The first option was the one he automatically wanted to choose, but at the same time it had drawbacks. If he didn't bomb Theed then Vader's conscience would be clean, but he would certainly be without allies save for the forces he had at his command now. And even then there was not telling how many of the organics among the fleet would mutiny out of loyalty to the C.I.S. And even if it put him in a good light with Padme, the Sith lord knew beyond doubt that the Jedi would simply imprison him for his status as a Sith if he went to the Republic. It would put him beyond square one.

If he went along with this, Vader damned himself in the eyes of the Republic, the Jedi, and Padme. He would be seen just as he had been during the Empire: a butcher. While he was certain this would be kept hidden from the Confederate public (they couldn't have one of their generals be seen in a bad light now could they?) the cyborg knew the rest of the galaxy would condemn him for it. But at the same time if Vader bombed the city he gained Sidious' trust, and would be in a position to undermine him. He would secure a position of authority in the Confederacy allowing the Sith lord to affect the outcome of the war.

Vader clenched his fist in both frustration and resignation. He knew what he had to do.

"It will be done."

"Excellent. Oh, and before I forget," Dooku said as an afterthought, his head tilting in an innocent way that simply did not fit. "Make Amidala watch."

Without waiting for a response Dooku cut the transmission while Vader turned to the stunned bridge crew, glad he could not see the distraught form of his angel.

 _I am so sorry, my love._

"Have all ships target the city."

Those that were capable were pale as ghosts as the commodore, in a badly shaking voice, replied. "Y-yes, at-at once, General."

Vader stared straight ahead, feeling the shock of the organics around him, the horror of what they were about to do. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Rune's wide-eyed look of horror, and through the Force he could feel the nemoidian's shock and… betrayal?

Before he could ponder on that Vader's ears caught a desperate sounding "Please."

He turned to see Padme, shaking in fear and unnaturally pale. Her eyes were wide with desperation as unshed tears pooled. "Don't do this."

Out of sight Vader's mechanical fist clenched. Oh how he so wanted to listen to his wife and abandon this madness!

But he could not, for there was no other way that he could see out of this, not without abandoning his plans to stop Sidious once and for all.

Sidious… Vader swore that he would make the man wish for death by the time he was through. He would receive no mercy.

"War is hell Senator," he whispered, but everyone seemed to hear it. "For everyone involved."

"All ships report ready, sir," a droid reported, its normally nasal sounding mechanical voice sounding like funeral bells to the Sith's ears.

With that he turned back to look at Naboo, and within his helmet Vader wept.

"Fire."

* * *

 _Jedi Temple, Coruscant_

"What was that?" a Jedi in the halls of the temple asked.

"You felt it too?" one of his fellows asked.

"For a second I could have sworn I heard… screaming?"

Whatever the man's companion was about to say in response was cut off from the sound of wood hitting the temple's marble floors. All the Jedi present turned to see Yoda on his knees and wheezing, his eyes wide with shock and horror.

Over the cries of concern from the Jedi, no one heard the small Jedi's question, so whispered it was.

"What have you done?"

* * *

Normally the office of Chancellor Palpatine was a quiet, somber place, where the duties of the executive that did not involve the Senate were carried out with passive determination. That was the impression given to the public anyway.

Now however, it was filled with the cackling of a madman, depraved in its quality and chilling to the bone. As his office was locked and empty save for himself, Sidious did not need to hide his jubilation at events.

"Congratulations, Lord Vader!" he shouted. "You pass the first half with flying colors!"

After another few moments of exultant laughter, which was rare from the normally composed Sith lord, he finally calmed down. That did not stop the devilish grin that spread across his face as he looked out his wall-spanning window. His eyes glinted in amusement at the sunset's resemblance to blood.

"Now let's see how you fare in real battle."

* * *

 _Theed, Naboo_

Hell.

That was the only word apt enough to describe what Theed had become. Where once there were beautiful buildings and plazas only rubble remained. Any and all life forms that had once lived in the city were now reduced to ash. The fires still burned, and the smoke and ash had combined to block out the sun. It was a scene straight from the horror stories of the ancient Sith Wars.

For miles around Naboo's denizens could see the massive black column of smoke that rose from Theed's ruins, and those who could not see its source still felt crippling dread.

The plateau that had held the city itself fared little better. Like great black stains scorch marks from the turbolasers were branded upon the once proud rock faces. Some of them were worse off, collapsing in great showers of rock with resounding moans that echoed like wails of despair from the condemned.

Theed, and with it Naboo's peace, was no more.

And it was only a taste of the horrors to come.

* * *

 _C.S.S._ Indomitable

The bridge was absolutely silent. No one dared to move or even breathe, those that had choice in that matter anyway. Even the droids seemed to be slowed in their movements, their work at the consoles taking on a sluggish quality.

The silence was broken by the sound of weeping. Vader did not turn to look, he already knew what he would see if he did.

"Status," he called out. Even the baritone sound of his voice sounded dull.

"Target is completely destroyed. There is nothing left, General."

The cyborg simply nodded, not having anything to say. He then turned to the commodore, who was shaking in his seat with wide eyes full of shock. "Commodore."

The man seemed to jump, and haltingly he looked at Vader, and the Sith was not surprised to see a brief flash of hatred in the human Confederate's eyes. He pressed on though.

"Have all ships assume formation and prepare for hyperspace. We are returning to Enarc immediately."

The commodore nodded. "Yes, right away… General."

As Vader's orders were carried out, he then turned to the droid guards of a now frantically sobbing Padme. "Take Amidala to the brig, and be careful with her."

The droid in charge nodded, and the squad quickly escorted Padme and 3po off the bridge. Before they left though, Vader caught a glimpse of his wife's face, and nearly wished he could die right then.

She glared at him with such hate, and even without the Force he would have felt like a serrated dagger had been shoved through his heart and twisted over and over.

It lasted only a second, as Padme was soon out the door, but for the Sith it had felt like an eternity.

He shut his eyes as more tears threatened to spill, and turned to oversee the bridge once more. That was when he felt it.

A presence that he had been feeling ever since he returned to this time, ignorant of his connection to it, was right on top of him. His eyes widened in shock.

 _No, it's too soon!_

A moment later a droid called out that they were picking up ships exiting hyperspace, and not a second later the forms of six _Venator_ class Star Destroyers stretched into existence, blocking the Confederate fleet's escape route. All of them bearing the emblem of the Open Circle Fleet.

Immediately he flew into action. Distraught as he was, Vader was able to thrust it aside and transition into his well-practiced role of commander. Theed's destruction would be in vain if he allowed himself to be captured now. He could not allow that.

"Have our ships assume a defensive line!" he shouted, his voice easily overpowering the cacophony that had briefly overtaken the bridge. "Have the _Recusants_ take up position at the rear to provide fire support. The _Munificents_ will form up around the _Indomitable_ and _Light_. Meanwhile launch the rest of our fighters, they will harass the Republic ships and keep their own fighters off of us."

Quickly the bridge crew rushed to follow Vader's orders, the droids simply following their instructions while the organics were glad to have a center of stability to latch onto. Meanwhile the Sith turned to Rune and the commodore. "Colonel Rune, you are to take command of security on this ship. Be prepared for any boarding attempts."

The nemoidian saluted, putting aside his current dislike of Vader with professionalism and a desire to survive. As he went off Vader turned to the human in the captain's chair. "Commodore, I am assuming full command of the fleet. To be blunt, I do not feel you are at all capable of matching Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi in strategy, to say nothing of Wulf Yularen. You are in charge of this ship's weapons systems. Can you handle that?"

The man nodded, and Vader felt through the Force he was terrified. In an attempt to be reassuring he placed his hands on the commodore's shaking shoulder. "We will survive this. Just do as I say and you will be fine."

The man didn't look the least bit assured, but he nodded all the same, attempting to put up a brave face. "R-right."

Once again Vader turned to stare out the viewport at the Republic fleet. In typical fashion of his younger self, it was charging forward with abandon, the V-19s screeching ahead at insane speeds to engage the mixed droid and organic fighters of the Confederacy. Already flashes of blue and red lit up the abyss of space, the Separatist ships opening fire even as they fell into their formation. Explosions already were lighting up the area, each one testifying to the death of a pilot or the destruction of a droid.

The Battle of Naboo had begun.

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah... long time no see everybody!

First off I offer my sincere apologies for the even longer than usual delay. Hopefully it won't happen again. Although I don't know how often I'll be able to update anything at all, considering I start college this Fall. We'll just have to hope for the best.

Anyway, on to the chapter itself. I'm kind of concerned with the reactions this one will get to be honest. Firstly, Theed. That was always going to happen. It was the only way I could think of to get Vader in Sidious' inner circle, and at the same time remind him of his own darkness. I've written Vader as being somewhat arrogant in his higher morality on purpose just so I could bring him back down to reality. He's responsible for the murder of thousands, including men, women and children. He choked his pregnant wife, tortured his daughter and then helped to destroy her homeworld, and maimed his son. That simply doesn't get swept under the rug. He's going to be dealing with the memories of that throughout this fic.

Also, I would like to stress the fact that Vader didn't really have a choice here. As I explained in the chapter, he could have refused, but where would that leave him? Alone with a handful of ships that might mutiny at any moment out of loyalty to their cause, and both the Jedi and Sith breathing down his neck. It might disgust him, but there is nothing else Vader could do if he wanted to carry out his plans.

Lastly, Ahsoka. Her appearance is really nothing more than comedic relief and a bit of philosophical rambling, but I've been fretting over it ever since I wrote the thing. She's one of the few things I liked about TCW, and I want to do both her and the relationship she has with Anakin proper justice. If you could be so kind as to offer feedback on how I did, I would be most grateful.

Anyway, that's the end of this long winded note of mine. I'll end with saying I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter. That's going to be so much fun.


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